


Eloise, Luca, and Peacock: Things that Oakley Loves

by Six2VII



Category: Captain America (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-03
Updated: 2020-10-04
Packaged: 2021-03-07 19:21:35
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 7
Words: 27,398
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26802832
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Six2VII/pseuds/Six2VII
Summary: Sam gets called in on a job with the last people he wants to see. Gang members, pirates, and ghosts can't stop the pilot from falling for the guy he shouldn't, his ex's best friend.
Relationships: James "Bucky" Barnes/Sam Wilson
Comments: 25
Kudos: 49





	1. Chapter 1

Sam dragged himself up the steps to his home. His bones ached. His nose was sore, and his ankle was still swollen. He finally got his front door open; he stumbled into his living room, his duffel sliding cross his polished wood floor. Floors he hardly saw anymore, floors in a tiny house he had been avoiding.

Emotions swirled inside him. He was happy to have some downtime but afraid of too much silence. He and Riley worked hard to make this once ramshackle dump a home. They sanded and painted and filled the rooms with laughter and love, and then Riley got in over his head, leaving Sam all alone. Sam looked around at the pristine space. All of his things and Riley’s tucked in together. God, he used to love this place and that man. He glanced up at the charcoal drawing of their likeness. _Mistake_ , he thought. Now he was thinking of _him_.

“Nope,” Sam said aloud heading to his bedroom. He was too tired and broken to think about that fool. Pining over Riley was one thing; he was the love of Sam’s life. Missing an asshole was another. Sam was just lonely and feeling bad for himself. He needed to do about three more good jobs to get a down payment on his cabin, so he could escape feeling like this every time he walked over the threshold. He would miss the home they built, but living here without him was killing him.

Until that time, he was getting to know a beautiful woman. It was new and exciting, and he couldn’t wait until he saw her tomorrow. He just had to get through tonight and the overwhelming quiet.

-o0o-

“Are you even listening to me?” Candace asked. Her lips pulled into a line.

“Yes,” Sam answered, lifting his head, clearing his throat. 

“No... Oh my god, you were asleep,” Candace accused, throwing down her napkin and folding her arms. Sam was up shit’s creek now. Maybe he was nodding off, but he definitely wasn’t _sleep_ sleep.

“I was not. Look, I’m sorry. It was-”

“A really rough job,” Candace finished, pursing her lips. “A job I still know nothing about,” she added taking a sip of wine.

Sam ignored that last bit. “I really wanted to see you tonight. Listen, why don’t we do this again tomorrow, after I’ve gotten some rest,” Sam explained. He was cut off by his phone dancing across the table to _One Mic_. They both looked down at the phone between them.

“I’m going to ignore it,” Sam said, unfolding the woman’s arms and grabbing her hands. He kissed the inside of her wrist, smiling up at her. She was not phased. 

“I think you should take it,” She said, pointedly when the phone started rhyming again. 

_FUCK!_ Sam thought. He really liked this girl. “Wilson,” he sighed into the phone. He looked at those soulful brown eyes, thick lips and silky curls. She could have been the one. Now she was scooping up her Telfair bag and walking out of his life. There was no slam. The door clicked shut, quietly. Appropriate for how he was feeling lately-already forgotten.

“We got a job,” Fury informed.

“Of course, we do. How much is my cut?” Sam said walking over to the window and watching Candace get into her car. The main thing motivating him now was money for a healthy down payment. Rental Income would also help pay for the cabin he wanted. This house was perfect for a couple starting out, that hadn’t been Sam for eight years.

“It’s huge. You good?” Nick said not trying to hide his concern.

“No. We just got back the day before yesterday. I’m getting tired of this shit.”

“Tired of making money? Twisting in the sky like a pretty bird? Not you, flyboy. What’s their name?” Nick said, knowingly. 

Sam huffed but answered, “Candace.”

“She must have been a baaaaad motherfucker.”

“You have no idea,” Sam confirmed. He looked at the mostly uneaten food on his table. The candles melting like his love life. They had sex twice, and once was a quickie. He wanted to take his time with this one. His hand would only be the company he kept tonight.

“Wheels up at 0200 hours. You’re going to be there?”

“Might as well,” Sam said, moving the dishes into the kitchen to wash.

“Ahh. Don’t bring that lovesick shit on my boat. This might get tricky. I need your head in the game. Both of them.” 

-o0o-

Sam was still pissed when he walked into the conference room at HQ. His agitation tripled when he saw James Fucking Barnes in the room. Sam had a choice two years ago. Let’s just say he made the wrong one, and Barnes’s face reminded him of that. He was hot as fuck, annoying, and could kill you before you even knew he was there.

He also took every opportunity to antagonize Sam, and just when Sam wanted to write him off, he did something decent like finding a group of missing girls and killing their captors on his week off, because it’s fun. Barnes had issues he dealt with being an ex-assassin and all. They all did on one level or another, but nothing like Barnes. 

The Nazi’s got Barnes fresh out of high school. He was the perfect mark. He was a poor kid raised by a single mom. He had been abused by an alcoholic father, and wanted to prove himself more than anything. He also happened to be one of the most talented snipers they had seen in basic in a long time. They indoctrinated him, drugged him, experimented on him, and turned him into a holy terror. What’s really a mindfuck is they were our guys. Domestic Terrorists embedded in the government bent on shaping the world to their twisted ideology. Some days Barnes was a real scary dude, others he was broken, but mostly, especially for the past two years a so, he has been a dick, especially to Sam. Sam thought it was that Nazi bullshit at first, but Sam has witnessed the man be sweet to old Jewish grandmothers, Black aunties, and Abuelas when they happened to be on a job together stateside. When he was in the mood, he could charm the pants off virtually anyone. He never was in the mood around Sam.

“Fury, what the hell is this?” Sam barked. The old man turned his brow raised. It took all the willpower Sam had not to knock the smirk off the ex-assassin’s face.

“I told you this one is dicey. I need the best.” 

“So why is he here?” Sam reiterated. Nick ignored him in favor of grabbing the dossiers off the table.

“Peacock, you know I’m the best,” Barnes sneered. He was methodically checking the various weapons before him. Eloise, his sniper rifle, was magnificent even in the dim light. She was spotless, deadly, and damn near unstoppable in her owner’s hands, but Sam would never say that aloud.

“Peacock? I’m the peacock. You’ve got more chemicals in your hair than a lab, but okay,” Sam replied. Barnes' hair was absurdly pretty. The first few months after Nick finally convinced him to join the organization, Sam would have dreams about running his fingers through it.

“You like my hair?” Barnes said, smiling at Sam. 

_Yes_ , Sam thought. His face however produced the biggest sneer he could muster. Barnes did everything he could to shake off the past. Sam was convinced he wore it so long because it was a far cry from regs, and of course it was a sex magnet. Sam wasn’t jealous. He got enough play with his regulation fade. It was the next morning Sam had a problem with. 

“Your schoolyard bullshit is going to have to take a backseat, assholes. Separating you two was already fucking with my scheduling, but oh so worth it. I’m not going to let you motherfuckas mess with my money,” Nick said.

“Friends!” Thor shouted, bounding into the conference room. Thor was 6’3 and two hundred and fifty pounds of muscle. He also happened to be blond, inexplicably jolly, and one the smartest dudes you could ever meet.

“It’s 0120 hours,” Nick said, putting the dossiers in front of Nine seats.

“I am aware of the hour,” Thor said, clapping Sam on the back as he passed. 

“Good, shut the fuck up,” Fury said, taking a sip of coffee.

“Nine seats. We got a crew of nine?” James asked, peeking into his dossier.

Nick eyed him in warning. He knew Nick liked everyone to start at the same time so he wouldn’t have to repeat himself. “Something like that,” Fury said, taking his seat. Despite his ambition, Fury looked exhausted as well. 

“That’s almost everyone elite status on payroll,” Sam said.

“It does seem like a large number,” Thor agreed.

“Nick, you know I still have issues,” James said, softly.

“I know. That’s why I called in Rogers, and if that doesn’t work. The Falcon is your favorite distraction.”

“Rogers and Barnes? Where’s Hill?” Sam asked. Maria Hill was one of the best hitters Sam had ever seen. Unfortunately, Steve was too. 

“Occupied,” Nick replied, fiddling with his laptop.

“She’s still in Portland? I thought that job ended. I left my date for this shit,” Sam sighed.

“You had a date. Whose dumb enough-” James started.

“You’ll thank me next week when you're able to retire. When we will all be able to retire. You can date all you want after that,” Fury said, trying to nip their squabbling in the bud.

“You had a date?” Steve said, walking into the room and dropping his bag by the door.

Sam barely looked in his direction. He was too afraid of what he might see. Steve, looking like the Greek god he was, happy and doing great without him. “Do you get to ask me that?” Sam said, wanting this week to be over an hour ago.

“What did I tell y'all about all this soap opera shit? This is a place of business,” Nick stated. 

“Business? We’re basically mercenaries,” Roy said, dropping his stuff at the entrance and taking a seat at the table. The surveillance specialist always had some gadget he was tinkering with. Tonight he had two.

“And it’s a muthafucking business, a multi-million dollar one after tonight.”

“A million dollars does sound nice, but I rather we focus on the weapon of mass destruction first,” James Rhodes said, walking into the room.

“Colonel,” Fury acknowledged unbothered by the fact that a military heavyweight and the second richest man in the world just walked into the room. “Everybody, this is Colonel Rhodes, and I’m sure you recognize Stark.” 

“Charmed. Is this the crew?” Tony asked, plopping into the chair by Sam.

“In the flesh. Well, we’re waiting for Williams to video call in, but she had some kind of exam,” Nick answered. 

“Riri Williams? Yeah, she’s not calling,” Tony informed.

“What?” Nick said looking at the weapons manufacturer.

“I told you I wanted to include my own guys,” Tony shrugged. 

“And I made space for them on the roster. Look, Mr. Stark, she may be young, but there is no one better,” Nick explained.

“Exactly, which is why I’m sponsoring her full ride to MIT, _if_ she turns you down.”

“Why would you?” Nick asked, visibly trying to control his temper. If this guy hadn’t hired them, he would be on the floor right now.

“I want in,” Tony answered like it was perfectly fine to sabotage their mission.

“No,” Nick said.

“This is my mistake. My fault. I want to help fix it,” Tony confessed.

“I am not babysitting a billionaire,” Roy said. 

“No, just an eighteen-year-old?” Stark pointed out.

“She’s nineteen,” Barnes interjected.

“That nineteen-year-old knocked Thor on his back when he ate her last slice of pizza. What are you going to do? Talk him to death. Steve, get your boyfriend on the line,” Fury commanded.

“I surprised him with tickets to Disney World to be here for this,” Steve said, apologetically. Like he could have known Stark would pull this shit.

“Shuri? She’s legal now right,” Nick tried. 

“The tickets were for her birthday,” Steve regretfully informed.

Nick sighed, and picked up his cell. 

“No, Fury,” James said, ever prescient.

“I have no choice,” Nick said, scrolling through his hundreds of contacts. 

“I’ll walk out,” Barnes threatened.

“And give up this score. You want out of this life more than any of us,” Nick replied. That was news to Sam. Sam always pictured Barnes as liking the holes he puts in people’s heads from 4,000 yards away. 

“I’ll shoot him,” James returned.

“He’s seventeen, at least for two more weeks. You don’t kill kids,” Nick pointed out.

“Not anymore at least,” Roy muttered under his breath. James eyed the dark headed man, but went back to packing up his weapons. 

“If you're talking about the Spider. I just gave him and his aunt 500,000 dollars to turn you down,” Tony said, waving his phone in the air showing the room the confirmed transaction.

“You’re not coming,” Nick stated again, racking his brain for anyone that would be up to this. 

“You have no choice. I’m the best option,” Tony replied.

“Mr. Stark, you're paying us a lot of money to go where others won’t, to do this quietly. You won’t be used to the accommodations. Sometimes we have to sleep in the dirt. Eat what we can find. Dodge bullets.”

“Remember the stew,” Roy said, adjusting a knob on a device.

“I found it delicious. I have recreated it on several occasions,” Thor said.

“Please don’t tell me you're eating New York cockroaches,” Sam said, putting down his tea.

“Nick, what if I can guarantee his safety,” Rhodey said, trying to salvage this and get this show on the road. He didn’t think Tony should go either, but there was no stopping Tony when he got something in his head. That’s why he called in a favor. 

“Colonel, I respect you, but you seem like a by the book type of guy. That isn’t our SOP,” Nick explained.

“Not me,” He opened the door and in walked a petite redhead. She looked like every naughty librarian Sam had ever fantasised about. She was in a cardigan, a crisp white blouse, and a black pencil skirt. The heels on her stilettos were so high and sharp they looked like a weapon. If she was in this room, they probably were. 

“This is-” Rhodey started.

“Natalia Romanov,” Barnes finished, stashing the last of his blades.

“I go by Natasha, now. Nice to see you, Bucky,” She said pushing the black rim glasses up on her nose.

“Bucky?” Sam and Steve said together. Sam ignored Steve in favor of teasing the assassin. He made a show of laughing at his corny ass nickname, _again_. The laughter soured when he realized that Barnes only let Steve, his lifelong friend, and Riri call him Bucky.

“I’m sorry. I thought we were amongst friends,” Natalia demurred, standing at the front of the room by Colonel Rhodes.

“No... you didn’t,” James said, smiling.

“This chick is going to protect Stark? She’s going to get us all killed,” Roy interrupted. “No offense, honey.” 

Sam shook his head. Roy could barely defend himself. He had no room to talk. The counselor didn’t understand how this guy can be the best surveillance specialist in the country and not understand people are often not what they seem. He watched people for a living, but didn’t understand them, especially women. Danvers had knocked a little sense in his head when he tried this crap with her, but not much because Romanov had a dangerous vibe despite the sexy getup. 

“You don’t mind Riri, Danvers, or Hill,” Thor pointed out.

“Yeah, cause Riri’s a fucking genius. Danvers and Hill are ex-military and can handle themselves. What can this princess-” Before he could finish Natasha vaulted over the conference table. She had lost the shoes and her skirt was dangerously high. She swung wrapping her body around Roy’s neck, and flipped the man over the balcony down to the first floor. She landed flat on her feet, smoothed her skirt down, and took the now open spot by James.

Colonel Rhodes eyed Natasha. He walked over to the balcony overlooking the warehouse. “I’ll have Happy drop him at the hospital,” Rhodey said, looking down at the man on the first floor. Roy was moaning and his ankle was clearly broken. “We're good here?” Rhodey asked, making for the door.

“Yeah,” Nick said with a phone to his ear. “Barton, your old friend just injured my surveillance specialist. You're taking his place… No, this can’t count for her audition… because I said so. …That stray can survive two days without you. Hell, Roy’s free. Have him look in on it.” Nick put down the phone. “Stark you’re in, but this is my show. You hired us for a reason.” 

“Actually...Pepper,” Tony corrected.

“I don’t give a good gahtdamn. I’m the quarterback and this is my starting lineup. Munitions-Dr. Thor Odinson. He has three PHDs in Chemistry, Nuclear Physics and Norse Mythology. He’s also a certified fulminologist. Codename:Thunder.” Thor raised the cup of coffee he was drinking in salute.

“Norse Mythology?” Tony whispered to Sam. 

Sam shook his head. “Don’t ask.”

“Surveillance-Clint Barton. He took home five Olympic gold medals for archery. He has 20/8 vision, and a master’s in engineering from Caltech. Code name: Hawkeye.” 

Tony snorted, “Caltech.” Sam and Barton were tight. He was usually the eyes on Sam’s team since Nick rarely put Barnes and him on the same job. 

“Hitter-Steve Rogers.” Nick continued. Sam used to work with Steve all the time. They were friends, and then more than friends, and now he was just someone Sam used to know.

“Oh my god. I knew I recognized you. You’re fucking Captain America. You’re that UFC champion. Didn’t you serve time for bludgeoning someone with a trash can lid.” 

“He was racist and homophobic. He called my boyfriend-” Steve started to try to explain.

“Ex-boyfriend,” Sam and Barnes said in unison. 

“Oh. Are you the ex-boyfriend?” Tony asked quietly as he leaned into Sam again. “You’re like a commie too, right?” Stark continued aloud.

“I’m a democratic socialist. What’s so radical about the statement healthcare is a right? Your tax breaks and subsidies are socialism, the public library, post office-socialism,” Steve answered.

“The marxist graduated from NYU with a Masters in Fine Art. Codename-Cap,” Nick said through gritted teeth. He continued. “Your new buddy there, is our wings-Dr. Sam Wilson. Top of his class in the Air Force Academy. Medal of Honor and Distinguished Flying Cross recipient as well as many other awards and commendations. He has a DSW from NYU. Code name- Falcon.”

“A DSW?” Stark asked.

“A Doctorate of Social Work,” Sam clarified.

“Yikes, no wonder you need the cash,” Tony replied.

“Hey,” Steve warned.

“ _Interesting._ If you hit me, not the face or I will sue. Whose tall dark and handsome in the corner? Nice hardware. Who made it? Please don’t say Hammer Tech,” Stark questioned. 

“It’s Wakandan,” Steve gritted out. 

“Wakandan? How the fuck did you swing that? Oh my god. Is that vibranium? And what is going on with you three? Does anyone else feel the tension?” Tony asked.

“Mr. Stark,” Natasha tried.

“Anyway, I’m Tony Stark. Billionaire philanthropist playboy.”

“Excuse me?” Rhodey said, walking back into the room.

“Ex-Playboy.” Tony corrected for the benefit of his Fiancé. “I went to the only engineering school that matters, MIT. And I too have various awards like the medal of freedom and as you know lots of money. I didn’t serve in the military, but I feel like I was adjacent because of the weapons manufacturing.” 

“No,” Sam and Rhodey responded.

“Anyway some assholes broke into one of my facilities in Senegal and stole all my thorium, plus a shit ton of stuff I was holding as a favor for the local government. I’m hearing whispers that someone has finally figured out how to weaponize it.”

“Do you have any ideas of who it can be?” Nick asked.

“Jarvis made a list. Did you send the list, Jarvis?”

“To everyone in the room, Sir,” Tony’s watch answered. 

Fury eyed the device on Stark’s wrist, but pulled out his phone. Sam checked the messages on his new burner phone, and he did indeed have a text with the case file. He had just brought the phone 20 minutes before he got here. 

“Coincidently, I figured out how to stabilize the element 30 years ago, but that was for some class. My prof gave me a B. Can you believe that? Anyway, I’m thinking of War Maker as my code name. You know because of weapons manufacturing...anyway. I'm going to workshop it. Nat, your turn,” Tony said, turning to his bodyguard. Everyone did the same, except Nick who knew everyone in the business.

“I’m Natasha,” The redhead offered. After a beat, Tony spoke up.

“Riveting. Natasha is Pepper’s, my CEO and Bestie, secretary who I just found out can kick major ass.” 

“The understatement of the year,” James smirked.

“And what about you, James?” Natasha returned. 

_Ew, they were flirting._ Sam didn’t want to see that shit at one in the morning or ever, especially since he tried to Facebook stalk Candace, and he saw her relationship status was back to single instead of it’s complicated. Now, he was super annoyed before a recovery job.

“I’m James Buchanan Barnes,” James replied.

“Why do I know that name?” Tony asked. 

“James Buchanan Barnes. Recipient of the-” Steve began.

“Shut up, Steve,” James said. 

“Sniper-James Buchanan Barnes. Recipient of Silver Star, Purple Heart, and the Prisoner of War medal. Code Name-” Fury continued

“You’re the fucking Winter Soldier!” Stark exclaimed.

“Code Name-Annie Oakley,” Fury corrected.

“I’m sitting in the room with the most prolific assassin of the century. You flipped on Pierce and killed 500 men in fifteen minutes. I still have nightmares about that footage,” Stark admitted. His face was twisted in terror. Barnes would not look up. He always got like this when someone recognized him. 

“He put down a coup attempt largely by himself,” Steve said, defending his best friend.

“Stop being a wimp, Stark. He shot me twice already, and I’m not as half as twitchy,” Natasha added.

“That doesn’t help,” Tony said, eyeing the redhead.

“What will help is when he helps get your thorium back along with the jewels and artifacts and the reward we were promised,” Nick reassured.

“Deal’s a deal,” Tony said. “Is it too late to-”

“Yep, You wanted in. This is the team,” Nick responded. 

“And Bruce,” Steve pointed out. 

“Whose Bruce?” Tony asked.

“The less you know about him the better. He’s the cleanup man. Code Name: Mean green. If everyone would open their dossiers,” Nick directed, brokering no more argument. 

Sam watched Barnes stare down at the table. Natasha flipped the folder open in front of him and squeezed his arm. Great, not only was he distracted, Steve was here, and Stark’s big mouth had just flipped the switch in Barnes. His body language went from competent and assured to withdrawn in seconds once he heard those three words. There was a reason his code name was Annie Oakley. Well, two actually. Ms. Oakley was a bad mamajama and her namesake wasn’t anything to play with either. More importantly, Barnes worked hard to erase some of the damage the Winter Soldier had done. Sam saw him struggling to find normalcy. He had been doing good, letting down his guard more, especially around the team. Sam looked over to the man. The redhead was trying to make him smile. Sam watched him slip further away. _Fuck_ , this didn’t bode well.


	2. Chapter 2

Sam was ticking off the flight checklist outside the jet while the rest of the crew was loading supplies. When he went inside to start the plane, Barnes was in the cockpit with his eyes closed. He was hiding; his breathing was off. Sam didn’t know if it was Steve and his smothering or Barnes not wanting to lose face in front of the redhead, but he would mind his business. If he needed a moment, he needed a moment. They needed Annie on his A game. Sam needed to bring his as well. The assassin rose as soon as Sam stepped fully into the cabin. 

“You can stay if you want. I’m just going to get her going,” Sam said sitting in the pilot’s seat. He tried not to give away everything he had seen or recognized. Barnes nodded but sat back down. They sat in silence as Sam went through his protocols. Sam pressed the intercom. “Wheels up in five minutes.” Sam said, getting his playlist pulled up and coffee in place. Barnes's breathing had slowed, but was still not back to normal. Sam got up to use the restroom before take off when the door swung open. 

“Sam, I know what you said, but have you seen?” Steve asked. He looked past the pilot. “Bucky, I have been looking all over for you,” Steve said over Sam’s shoulder. Steve wasn’t allowed in Sam’s cockpit, which is probably why Barnes was there.

Sam ignored the friends and went to handle his business. When he came out of the bathroom the redhead was waiting even though Sam could clearly see the other bathroom was unoccupied.

“So, your Sam?” She asked. This woman was virtually unreadable.

“Yep,” Sam answered.

“Interesting. I didn’t know you were this pretty.”

“Don’t tell me you actually listen to Hawkeye’s bullshit. You’re his homegirl right? You should know how he is.”

“I know Clint like the back of my hand,” Romanov leaned into Sam. “But that’s not all I know.” She said, turning and heading into the bathroom across the way. She smiled at him coyley, and then closed the door.

“Okay,” Sam said, making his way back to the cockpit. He already had too much shit going on in his head. He was not going to even try to unravel that enigma. Steve was still at the door, but Barnes had not moved. Steve had clearly given up which meant...

“Sam, I was wondering, if we get some down time, if maybe we could talk?” Steve asked.

“We have nothing to talk about Steve,” Sam said, walking past the man and sitting in the pilot’s seat warming up the engines.

“I want us to be friends. We used to be friends. I miss you,” Steve replied.

“I am trying to get ready for this shitshow we’re about to walk into. I don’t need this right now,” Sam responded.

“Sam?” Steve pleaded.

“NO SOAP OPERA SHIT!” Fury said from his chair. “Falcon, fly the damn plane. Cap go sit your ass down. Where’s Annie?”

Sam looked over to the catatonic man. Barnes was disconnected.

“He’s helping me fly,” Sam said, adjusting the wings.

“Alright. Let’s make this money and kill some bad guys.”

-o0o-

Sam landed the plane at the coordinates Fury gave him. Two range rovers were waiting. He had been playing his favorite songs and telling Barnes about the memories that go along with them. When he got to Misty Knight and Patti Labelle’s _Somebody Loves You Baby_. Some of the life returned to James’s eyes. He was about to pick another song when Barnes asked, “What Steve’s Song?”

Sam thought about lying, deflecting, but he found the song and pressed play on his phone. 

“That’s beautiful,” James said when it was over.

“Stevie Wonder is unmatched,” Sam said. He was happy the man beside him was verbal again. It was weird to be talking about his asshole of a best friend, but it couldn’t be helped. When Barnes said no more. Sam went back to playing the soundtrack of his life. 

Barnes actually helped him power down the jet. They went through and locked up as everyone moved their gear to the SUVs. When they deplaned, Romanov waved them over to the SUV she was driving. She had Tony in the back. Barnes slid in the front with the redhead. Sam had no choice but to hop in the back with Stark.

Romanov was impressive; she drove through the backroads of the Sengalese countryside like she knew where she was going. Maybe she did. If she was on Fury and Barnes’s radar she had to be good. Sam peeped the outfit change. The spandex kicked the sexy factor up by 10. The twin glocks didn’t hurt the fuckable factor either. Sam could see what Barnes saw in her. She was mysterious and fine and competent. He would have to be a real hater not to. He was just annoyed that he and Candace didn’t work out, and his ex was here, and apparently, Stark was sexting beside him. He hoped to god he did not just see Colonel Rhodes’s junk. He must have died on the last job, and this was hell. Had to be.

Fury had found a run-down hotel on the outskirts of town. It was far away enough from the tourist and business center to not merit close scrutiny. It was also a magnet for bad men and women like them. “They only have four rooms, folks,” Barton said, coming out with eight keycards. Banner was on his heels looking rumpled and nervous.

“What? I need my own room,” Tony said, grabbing key 308.

“Listen here, Mr. Stark,” Steve started. Nick held up his hand to the champ. Steve closed his mouth and stormed off. Steve wanted the world to be fair and everyone to be equal. It’s that sense of justice that knocked Sam head over heels. The world didn’t work like that. Stark was bankrolling their operation, and that meant he got perks, duh.

“It’s fine. Me, Barton, Barnes, and Wilson will share 309,” Romanov said, grabbing the keycard.

“Who?” Sam asked, hoping to bunk with Banner.

“Barnes and I don’t sleep much. I got to babysit, remember. Clint just needs some place to shower. He’ll sleep on the roof. Really, you’ll be the only one sleeping,” Romanov pointed out. 

Clint nodded in agreement. Barnes ignored them in favor of pinpointing sightlines and identifying access points.

“You good with that Falcon?” Fury asked. Romanov smirked at him in challenge. He was dumb as fuck, but this woman was intriguing. He just wanted to see what she was going to do next. He wondered why he had been chosen to join what is obviously her inner circle.

“Why not?” He was tired and ready to hit the hay, so they could wake up, wreck shit, and get paid. Shooting corrupt assholes trying to blow up the world sounded like the catharsis he needed right now; he was a counselor after all.

-o0o-

Sam’s eyes fluttered open, and ice blue orbs stared back at him. Sam found it strange, but was pulled back into the dream he was having. When he realized whose eyes they were, his eyes popped back open. Barnes lay on the bed across from Sam. His back was turned. Romanov’s slender arm was draped over James’s waist like it belonged there. The manicured hand waved at him.

“Good Morning,” She said, like she hadn’t pulled an all nighter in the hall dancing from their room to Stark’s. “Stark’s in with Fury. We should be ready to move in an hour. Barnes got us beignets and coffee. Wasn’t that sweet?”

“I suppose. Who wants to shower first?” Sam said, sitting up.

“Everyone’s had a turn. We wanted to let you sleep in since you’ve been up the longest. Barnes says you get grumpy if you don’t get enough rest.” Barnes snickered into the pillow. 

_Well at least he was back to his annoying self,_ Sam thought. “I do not, and you’ve been on guard duty all night,” Sam pointed out.

“Barnes relieved me for a while. I'm good,” She said.

Clint landed on the window seal, opened the window, and flipped into the room. “Fury says we’re gone in thirty.” He picked up his duffle and shimmied back out the window.

Sam shook his head. He could be in an office right now. He looked over to Barnes and Romanov. They were full on cuddling now. Sam grabbed his gear and headed for the restroom.

-o0o-

Sam snuck up on the man with a rifle pointed at the bookstore. He grabbed his head and twisted until he heard the crack that said he wouldn’t be a problem anymore. He looked through the scope and yep, this guy had a clear shot to anyone walking through the front door. He swung the gun up across the roof and saw men being dispatched on at least three surrounding city buildings. Sam rifled through the dead man’s pockets and bags for any clues. He took what he thought would help them find the thieves.

“Backdoor. Clear,” Barnes snarled into the comms. He and Rogers had cleared the back alley.

“Clear,” Barton said from a roof across from Sam.

“Clear,” Sam responded. When everyone checked in, Stark and Romanov walked into the bookstore. Five minutes later Sam got a text to come inside. It looked like a regular bookstore in a big city. Most of the titles were in French and Wolof. Some were Pulaar, but Sam saw a few English titles. He also saw two corpses behind the counter. He went into the stockroom like everyone else, and watched Stark scan his palm and retina into a hidden panel. The wall opened up and they were staring into a vault, a high security vault. 

“Yep, they got everything,” Stark said, surveying the damage.

“I smell aqua regia,” Thor said, examining the eaten-through metal. 

“Yep,” Banner agreed, taking out a baggie and scraping a substance into it.

“Is it safe, Thunder?” Nick asked. The scientist nodded. “I take it you did not notify the authorities,” Fury asked Stark, examining a lock box.

“I did not. I had a better relationship with the last prefect. If they realize the artifacts have been stolen, our contracts will be null and void. I need this to be fast and quiet,” Stark responded.

“Who are these guys we just took out?” Clint asked through the comms. He was still posted on the roof.

“My best guess is local gangs. A business left abandoned. Someone was bound to notice.” Tony answered. He had whipped out a screwdriver from somewhere and was messing with a hard drive.

“The only security you had back here is AI?” Barnes said, pulling the bars that probably housed the really important stuff.

“Yes. Closed circuit,” Stark replied.

“So knock out the generator,” Steve said.

Stark sighed, “Guys _and lady_ , Stark Industries hasn’t used a traditional power supply in five years. We’re the only name in clean tech. This block will have electricity for the next fifty years unabated.”

“Who normally runs the bookstore?” Sam asked. 

“Awa Sy. She and her family have been missing since I got the alert,” Tony said.

“You think she’s in on it?” Nick asked, taking a picture of some scuff marks on the floor.

“Maybe, maybe she's dead. Her financials were just as clean as when I hired her. I can’t find any connection to her from the gangs or anyone in the local government or any government.”

“Something’s off about this wall,” Romanov said, taking a picture. Sam heard the sent sound a second later.

“She’s right. The boxes on the third row are off by ¾ centimeters,” Hawkeye said. Barnes went over to the wall and struck it with his metal arm. Metal collapsed to the floor revealing a giant note scrawled with spray paint. Everyone read the message in silence.

“Well, it’s not the local gangs, and they’re holding your shit for ransom,” Fury said, walking out of the room.

“What could they possibly want more valuable than thorium?” Stark asked.

“They left a number. Why don’t you call them and find out,” Sam answered him.

-o0o-

“These people are idiots. The lost treasure of Lima. It’s a fairy tale,” Stark said, drinking his beer.

“Why do they think you can find it?” Fury asked, digging into his stew.

“Why do you think? I’m rich,” Stark responded.

“No one is robbing one of the richest men in the world, someone with extensive political connections on a whim,” Barnes said, biting into his chicken.

“Jarvis,” Tony said.

“In reviewing the archives sir, your father purchased several items from an estate sale in 1957. The journals of Bertha Thompson were amongst the items secured,” Jarvis explained.

“Bertha Thompson?” Steve said, stuffing bread into his mouth.

“Bertha is the wife of Captain William Thompson of the ship Mary Dear,” Jarvis continued. 

Turns out Willie Thompson absconded with a shit ton of treasure near Costa Rica in the 19th century. The treasure hunter blogs say he was in possession of a jewel encrusted statue of the Virgin Mary worth 200 million dollars, but some believe the real prize is the Ark of the Covenant shipped to the new world to keep it hidden. Apparently, Jarvis found some evidence that the covenant was smuggled to another continent. If this is true, lots of folks would murder Stark for the information he may have in those journals. Thompson disappeared into the jungles of Coco Island, but some believe he had an escape plan and made it out. He changed his name and lived the rest of his life in extreme luxury selling some of the gold and jewels he found in the treasure, but everyone knows you can’t leave some things behind. 

A lot of people in witness protection don’t last long because they miss their loved ones. They slip up with often deadly results. Fury was betting that Thompson slipped up, and Bertha lived to tell about it.

“You know this raises our fee right?” Fury said, finishing his meal.

“Logical. Take what you want. I just need the thorium back,” Stark said, scrolling through data on a tablet.

“You may have the keys to the Ark of the Covenant,” Steve said in disbelief.

“You’re religious, huh. Cute. Your gold box means a lot to you. Assholes blowing up the world with my shit, my reputation, means a lot to me.”

“We’ve got incoming,” Clint said into their comms. Natasha forced Stark to the ground. Barnes and Sam were up and out of the building in 5 seconds flat. Sam headed for the cars. Barnes for higher ground. Everyone else spread out and took cover. 

5-4-3-2-1. A brown SUV crashed into the small restaurant. It’s driver was slumped over on the wheel, an arrow in his eye. Men vomited out of the vehicle. Steve took out two with dinner plates and another with his killer left hook. Natasha’s bullet split one’s head open. Thor pulled out his modified taser and fried the last fellow.

Sam honked his horn, and Natasha threw Stark into the car. Banner climbed in after him. The redhead got in the front, but was hanging out the door firing shots at their assailants. Sam heard a thump on top of their roof and two knocks. Sam sped off while Barnes laid down cover fire from their roof. A minute later Sam could see the rest of the team in the brown vehicle behind them. A green truck was following them, but Natasha climbed over the seats into the back bay and pulled out a black bag. She leaned out of the window and the world exploded behind them.

“Good Job, Romanov. Welcome to the team,” Nick said into his comms.

“Thank you, Sir,” Romanov said, sitting in the back into her seat.

“Hi, I’m Bruce,” Banner said, sticking out his hand. Natasha smirked at him, shaking it. Barnes slipped into the car through the front passenger window. 

“Hi Bruce, I’m Natasha,” Romanov said, shaking debris out of her hair. 

“You’re driving almost got me killed,” Barnes said checking the mirrors and reloading a clip.

“Almost? Shit. I’m losing my touch,” Sam said, turning quickly, making everyone hold on.


	3. Chapter 3

With pursuers hot on their tail and the abrupt change of the parameters of this job, Fury had no choice but to let Stark supply a boat. Planes needed fuel, and fuel was hard to get when you were being pursued by local LEOs and gangs. None of their contacts would take too kindly to that amount of heat. Fury was a businessman, and he wouldn't ruin those relationships. The fastest and safest way off the continent was Stark’s boat docked at a nearby facility. Stark said he could have a private jet there in four hours, but that would take too long and would be very conspicuous, not to mention traceable. They had just enough fuel to get their bird to the rendezvous point in Praia, Cape Verde. Stark promised he would take care of the plane until they were able to retrieve it. 

They needed a cover anyway and a billionaire vacationing in Costa Rica on his yacht worked. Sam did not expect this though. Stark’s boat looked like a cruise ship. He called it a megayacht. One of his many megayachts. Steve called it disgusting and a reason to eat the rich. Sitting in the massage pool, Sam called it a win. 

He looked out at the ocean. He read somewhere that walking by bodies of water calmed you. Yeah, this was the life. He wished Riley was here to see this. He would have flipped out. They would be jet skiing right now. Eating caviar in a jacuzzi somewhere. If the payout for this job was as good as Fury promised, and they didn’t get dead, he would have to find a cabin by a lake. One that was rundown. One he could make his. 

He saw a shadow flicker across the water of the small pool. He looked back at the door, and Barnes was standing there. He was still in all of his gear. Sam was tickled. The man never let down his guard. They had a four day trip. He would get hot soon enough.

“Stark says dinner will be served in five minutes,” Barnes explained when Sam looked at him. 

“Are you Stark’s errand boy now?” Sam asked.

“No. I’m doing a sweep. Excuse me for trying to be polite,” Barnes responded.

“Yeah, I’m sorry man. Thanks for letting me know,” Sam said. Something had shifted between them since the cockpit. Sam kept trying to get them back to baseline, snarking at one another, but it was proving difficult. Barnes nodded, circling the deck, probably scanning for listening devices. He turned to leave, but stopped.

“You're not going to eat?” He asked.

“I’m not hungry. I think I’m going to enjoy the peace and quiet while I still can,” Sam said.

“They’ve got crabs. I know you like crab legs from that time we were stranded in Jacksonville. With the way Thor and Steve eat...”

“Save me some, man,” Sam said. Barnes nodded and walked off the deck. Sam went back to his daydreams about Riley. He was about to pull up his anniversary playlist, when Steve walked out on the deck. Sam was beyond irritated.

“Sam, we need to clear the air,” Steve declared. Sam rose from his tranquil and very comfortable position. He walked into the interior of the boat.

“Dinner’s ready,” The pilot called over his shoulder as explanation, leaving Steve to sulk. Sam skipped the elevator. He wasn’t going to allow the hitter to trap him anywhere; he traversed the halls, and used the stairs to get to the dining room. 

The room’s decor was red and gold. It sounded like it should have been too much, but it was pretty nice, tastefully done. Most of the crew was already sitting around the giant circular table. Their plates were loaded, mouths full. When he sat next to Romanov, she grabbed a covered plate between her and Barnes and placed it in front of Sam. He took off the cloth napkin; it was piled high with crab legs. Sam was speechless. He looked over at Barnes, but his ridiculous hair was in his face. Romanov smiled that little smile of hers. When Steve made it into the room, Sam refused to look in his direction, and then something dawned on him. He leaned behind the redhead.

“Barnes, did you tell Steve where I was?” Sam whispered.

“No, I did,” Romanov said, spooning some fancy salad unto his plate.

“Why?” Sam asked.

“Why not? It seems you have some things you need to talk about. If you're so done with him like you claim, why not get closure? Unless...” Natasha implied. Her brow raised in question.

“Unless? There is no unless. Wait, how do you know all of this? I just met you two days ago,” Sam asked.

“I told you I know things. Eat your food,” Natasha said, biting into some kind of pie. She moaned in appreciation. 

“Some people have big mouths,” Sam said in Clint’s direction. The archer was sitting across from them eating lobster pizza. He looked up from his plate and blew Sam a kiss. Sam laughed, cracking into his meal. It was delicious, the cook had used a spice blend Sam couldn’t identify. He fancied himself an amateur chef. He had to know what the seasoning was. He would ask later. 

He wouldn’t have gotten to experience this at all if not for Annie. He looked over to Barnes again, but had to look away quickly. Romanov was feeding him pie. Sam needed to get laid. 

“I hope you enjoyed your day off today. Tomorrow we go to work,” Nick said to his employees.

“We’re in the middle of the Atlantic ocean,” Steve protested.

“Stark’s got wifi.” Fury said, enjoying a slice of the same pie Natasha _and Barnes_ were eating. Everyone groaned.

“I hate data analysis. I thought that was Stark’s Job. Isn’t that his job?” Clint said through a mouth full of pizza.

“As far as I can tell we’re running five jobs right now. Stark is treasure hunting. Steve and Thor are going to figure out who was shooting at us in Grand Dakar. We need to make sure it’s gangs and not another organization. Nat and Clint are going to hack the Prefect’s office to see what he knows. Barnes and Wilson will get eyes on our enemies in Mexico and South America, and Banner and I will figure out who knew about the journals and thorium vault. Stark has tablets and laptops in all of your rooms. We will meet after dinner everyday for debrief. I want to know all the interested parties, and how to neutralize them quickly and quietly. Banner, you were the last person at the base in Limoncito. How are we looking?” Nick asked.

“You know I don’t mess with your gear. Food supply is probably low,” Banner informed.

“But the levels are safe?” Thor asked, taking a giant swallow of beer. He dipped his fried calamari in chipotle sauce. 

“Some of your toys may have to stay on the boat, but I checked an hour ago and everything is stable. The potassium samples are coming along. The rate of decay is a little slower than I want, but...” Banner replied.

“What’s he talking about? Are you fooling around with gamma rays?” Stark said, finally looking up from his tablet. “Who is he again?”

“Bruce Banner,” Nick hedged, hoping Stark didn’t recognize the name.

“Dr. Bruce Banner? Holy shit! And I thought the cyborg assassin was the only thing I had to worry about with you guys.”

“It was an accident,” Bruce said, quietly, leaving the room.

“Bruce, don’t listen to this asshole,” Steve called after the disgraced scientist.

“What kind of circus are you running, Fury?” Stark asked.

“The kind that gets shit done. Your shit. You want quiet. You want the best. Here they are. Banner is a genius, Barnes an artist. Everyone one of these men could be doing anything else besides saving your precious reputation. I thought maybe you could understand Banner considering how you amassed this great fortune you're so worried about. How we’re all out here cleaning up your fuck up,” Nick said, cutting into his prime rib.

The room went silent. You could hear the scrape of silver cutlery across fine china. Warriors weary from battle slurping down temporary relief. Delicacies and gourmet food being chewed aggressively. It was as uncomfortable as it sounded. 

“Point taken,” Tony said after several minutes of this. To be fair he did look appropriately contrite to Sam. That was something he did not expect from the notoriously egocentric Anthony Stark. “I may have overreacted. I haven’t had much sleep,” Tony admitted.

“Well, you got 50 guest rooms on this monstrosity. You might want to use one before you tick someone off,” Steve replied. 

“I think that’s a good idea. We should all get some sleep,” Fury suggested.

“I got another pizza in the oven,” Clint protested.

-o0o-

Bright light erupted into his room. “What the what?” Sam gasped, trying to block out the sun.

“I’m sorry, Sir. Mr. Fury directed me to wake everyone up at 7:00am,” Jarvis explained.

“No problem, Jarvis,” Sam said, pulling the covers over his head.

“Sir, I should also warn you that Sgt. Barnes is outside your door.” 

Sam groaned, but got up and padded over to the door. He wrenched it open. “Come in,” He said. Barnes grinned. _He was not grumpy_. “Give me a minute and we can get started.”

“Actually, I wanted to work in a different space,” Barnes said a laptop bag slung over his shoulder. He was still in his gear, and Sam could spot two guns and four knives. It was probably only the tip of the arsenal concealed on his person.

“Alright. Long as we stop by the kitchen first,” Sam agreed.

Barnes held up a bag. “Egg and cheese croissants.” 

“You got some coffee in that bag?” Sam asked, going over to brush his teeth.

“No, but there is some in the thermos I left in the hall.”

“Aren’t you the teacher’s pet?”

“We have a job to do.”

“We’re on a superyacht. The bad guys are two days away. We can sit down and have breakfast. You can take off some of your gear,” Sam added.

“Are you trying to get me naked, Peacock?” Barnes smirked.

“Yeah, right,” Sam snorted. _Well,_ Sam’s libidio chimed. It’s been him and his hand for a week now. _Nope. No way!_ His conscience rallied.

Sam thought he had explored the ship and had a rough estimate of the layout. Barnes was taking him through so many rooms and halls Sam wasn’t sure they were on the same boat anymore. Barnes had it memorized, too. Sam could tell he was actively avoiding everyone. A few voices floated by as they trekked to wherever Barnes was taking him. He snickered when Barnes started climbing a ladder, but followed him anyway.

He stopped laughing when the hatched opened unto the roof of the control room. The view was breathtaking. With the yacht cruising at top speed, it was like Sam was flying. Flying in a luxurious basket. Stark had overstuffed couches and soft pillows even up here. _Was that a wine fridge?_

“How did Hawkeye not see this?” Sam said stepping fully unto the roof.

“He did, but I found and claimed it before he did,” Barned smiled. The sniper’s competition with the archer was almost as heated as the one they had.

“You slept here didn’t you?” Sam asked, looking at the indentations that had not fully filled back out.

“We both did. I made him leave, so we could work,” Barnes admitted.

“It’s beautiful up here. Thanks for sharing it with me man.”

“You’ve thanked me twice in two days. I started thinking you have a crush on me,” The assassin flirted.

“I think you're projecting,” Sam said, turning away from that smile. It was dangerous. He had seen it in action too many times before. It was quite possibly the sniper’s best weapon.

“Don’t psychoanalyze me,” Barnes said, sitting and opening the laptop he had been furnished.

“It’s kind of my thing,” Sam said, taking out the giant tablet his mother brought him for Christmas after his niece introduced her to Facetime. She said she needed to see his face whether he was in Harlem or the Kyrgyz Republic. Darlene Wilson thought he was a jetsetting businessman. It made her worry less. It added to his guilt.

“My thing is killing bad guys. Let’s find some,” Barnes replied.

They found entirely too many. Otto Octavious was in Colombia securing resources for some new project his corporation was launching. Norman Osborn was spotted at an embassy in Nicaragua two days ago. Wilson Fisk has a large growing operation in South America. They were going to probably have to handle that soon enough. Fucking Mark Scarlotti was in San Jose with some blonde that isn’t his wife _or mistress_ , but the most interesting development seems to be a museum robbery in Lima, Peru. 

The thief took one item. A gold dagger found on Captain William Thompson’s person when he was captured all those many years ago. The gallery feed had been scrubbed, but the thieves left the feed in the security office intact. The cameras in the gold museum had been literally knocked out in under two minutes, one after another. The strange thing is the camera positions were not linear. The cameras did not go out in order of the electric circuit either. 

“It’s like their ping ponging,” Sam said, watching the feeds cut out and guards panic in the small dark room. Sam pulled the security schematics he had Jarvis print out. 

“Okay, so Camera G1,” Sam said, marking it on the map. “G9,” He continued. “G3,” He said, biting his lip. 

“It’s vectors and angles,” Barnes said, looking at the forming pattern on the blueprint.

“Sharpshooter?” Sam said, glancing at the man. He had finally relented and taken off his tact vest after Sam yelled at him for making him hot through association. James flipped him off, but slid the vest off a few minutes later. Of course, he still kept it close.

“There are no reports of bullets holes or guns fired in the museum,” Barnes said scrolling through the local police report.

“It’s a boomerang,” Clint’s voice squawked from behind a pillow. Sam jumped up. Barnes snatched the pillow revealing one of the team’s walkie talkies. They were ancient and they only used them when shit hit the fan and comms were down.

“Have you been spying on us asshole?” Barnes barked into the device.

“Not intentionally. I was fooling around last night trying to increase their range. Nat was helping. One of you has been sitting on the button forever. I wanted to tell you guys it was on, but I was overridden,”

“What the fuck, Nat?” Barnes asked.

“Your bickering is cute. I like hearing your voices. It’s like a podcast. You guys work really well together,” A sultry voice came back. 

Sam shook his head. He could be in an office right now, helping men and women who needed it. Instead he was out in the middle of the ocean treasure hunting with codependent murderers who most certainly needed therapy.

Sam sat back down looking at the map. Clint has always been a strange bird. Barnes was working on it. Sometimes he was a smooth motherfucker and sometimes, Steve had to hold him like a baby, but Sam could understand that. Ms. Romanov was an unknown quotient, and that was throwing Sam off. He decided to ignore it. 

“Barton, are you saying what I think you’re saying?” Sam asked.

“Myers is in play,” Clint answered.

“And someone else. Your arch rival isn’t smart enough for the vault in Dakar,” Barnes said.

“Why is he my arch rival? Your girlfriend is the one who broke his leg in three places,” Clint sent back.

“For the last time, Rogers is like my brother. He isn’t my type, anyway,” Barnes replied.

“What is your type? Tall, Da-” Clint sing-songed.

“We’ll let you two get back to it. It seems you're on the right track,” Romanov said cutting Clint off. Sam grabbed the walkie talkie out of Barnes’s hands and turned it completely off. He took out the battery just to make sure. Comms on a mission were one thing. Wallkies though?

“So what now?” Barnes said stretching back out on one of the couches. 

“Known accomplices, affiliates, co-conspirators?” Sam answered checking behind the pillows before sitting back down. He didn’t mean to sit as close as he did to Barnes, but now it would be weird if he moved, right? Sam looked over to the man. He was engrossed in the screen, he didn’t seem to notice or let on he had noticed.

“And then cross reference those with flight manifests to Lima,” Barnes added crossing his legs at the ankle and typing into the screen. 

Sam was not trying to remember his notes from William’s nonverbal communication class. He wasn’t. It just occurred to him that crossed legs means anxious or closed off, unless the leading leg is pointed towards you, and fuck, both Barnes’s feet were angle towards the pilot. _Oh, Jesus._ _Am I falling for Barnes?_ You’re his best friend’s ex. You’re lonely. You miss Riley. He’s being sweet because you helped him in the cockpit. Get it together, Sam. You can’t keep falling for these dangerous ass white boys you work with. _Shit, I have a type_. Fury was going to kill him or worse kick him off the roster. He needed this cash, at least until he had enough. Sam straightened up and went back to work. 

-o0o-

Banner called it. The opened sleeve of stale Ritz crackers and 3 cans of Vienna sausages was not going to feed Thor for five minutes let alone nine adults for however long they were going to be in Costa Rica. Stark tried to offer his upscale accommodations again, but Fury shut him down. Fury was a king in his castle. Their bases weren’t the Ritz Carlton, but they were comfortable and starting to feel like home. That was a problem, Sam realized.

One that his teammates did not share. Elite roster got their own spaces in the headquarters whatever continent they were on. Fury believed in giving you the tools you needed to do your best work.

You paid for Fury and Associates, you got the full might of their resources. And with all the crazy shit going on in the world, they had nearly unlimited resources to be their most dangerous. Barnes had bunkers full of weapons that would make even Stark question humanity. He didn’t allow anyone in his private quarters, but Nick said he went out of the way to make the sniper comfortable. It was the only way to reel him in, five years ago.

Sam had no idea what Bruce actually did, but government agencies were afraid of the man and what that big giant brain of his could come up with. It was weird because he was the most soft spoken guy Sam ever met, but Hawkeye knew him the longest and says he has a temper and likes to smash shit. Nick’s the crazy asshole who gave Banner secret labs, funds, and a bevy of chemicals, not to mention the anger management classes. 

Sam read a magazine article that said Dr. Odinson could catch lightning in a bottle if given the right tools. Nick gave him bottles, containers, screwdrivers, pliers, and hammers. Anything he wanted. The shit he came up with was next level. Once you saw a bad guy fricasseed, you can’t forget that shit. A viable lightsaber? Odinson did that 5 years ago. Nick played around with it for a while, but said they were too flashy to distribute company wide. Our clients prized anonymity overall. 

Steve was old fashioned. Nick provided all the gym equipment to help keep him in ultimate fighting condition. Not to mention the never ending supply of skulls to crack. Despite the muscles on muscles, the blonde boxer wasn’t a neanderthal. Nick also brought supplies and let the three time UFC champion paint and decorate to his heart’s desire. In any room in the base there could be an uzi, a machete, a toxic chemical, and a realistic watercolor of ocean surf. There were so many sketches. Before they broke up Steve was picking up steam in art circles. It’s how Steve met tech guru T’Challa. It’s how Sam stopped using any tech from Wakanda Labs Inc. Sam knew too many people with labs.

Even Hawkeye had a lab. He spent most of his time making shit to prank people, but the rest of the time he produced the most advanced bolts, and arrows in the world. After Sam saw a guys face melt off, he tried to dissuade Banner and Odinson from sharing their tech with the archer. Of course he had no such luck. 

Roy got all the new toys on the market. He would boost their accuracy and sometimes he enlists Steve to help camouflage listening devices. He, Barnes and Barton have a never ending spy game going on. Sometimes it’s hilarious and others it’s annoying, especially when Sam is collateral damage.

Fury tries to buy Riri all of the state of the art laptops. A few are probably still sitting in her room collecting dust, others hit ebay a week or so after she gets them. Fury peeped her game a year ago. Sometimes he buys them himself and makes the crew use them. She’s better than everyone. She deserves her salary and that side hustle. Her rig was built in the engineering lab she was provided in Chi-town. She would take apart electronics she would find in the trash or at second hand stores and build her own devices. She hardly ever travels with the team. If the job was easy and not too far, Fury would let her go. She could destroy your life with a Commodore 64 and Atari from her bedroom on a mundane Tuesday. If she ever did pick up that IBM the world would crumble under the weight of her 1’s and 0’s. Spider’s pretty dope too, but his energy doesn’t vibe with a lot of these moody mofos. Personally, Sam likes the kid. 

He likes his gear better. Fury knew exactly how to lure him out of the VA. The ornery bastard gave him wings. Sure, he’s got his pick of planes, jetpacks, and parachuting, hang gliding, and paragliding rigs, but Fury actually gave him mechanical wings. Sam knows they're illegal and probably ill gotten. He doesn’t care. When they're isolated in a jungle or desert he gets to fly. Yes, like a falcon. He doesn't care that it’s corny. He doesn’t care about the tweety, chicken, and peacock comments because he gets to fly. Saving people and the cash doesn’t hurt. 

Beyond the Elite squad they had hundreds of folks backing them up. Eric was his boy. Sometimes he took the insect thing too far. Carol liked planes just as much as he did. They were Air Force, after all. He never got around to going to get coffee with Ororo. Him and Remy were supposed to hit up Las Vegas. And he hadn’t seen Luke since he settled down and had the baby. And Gamora, he hoped she wasn’t going to settle for that dude. Daddy issues or not. He had some friends who would love to get at her. He had grown close to these people. He would miss them. Is he really going to give this up? 

-o0o-

With the fridge restocked and his stomach full, Sam settled into his bunk overlooking the hanger. Tomorrow, they were going treasure hunting. The way they kept getting shot at wasn’t too encouraging. Stark’s boat had a few holes in it now. A few mercenaries did too thanks to Barnes. They’re lucky they made it to base no matter how good a driver he was. 

Myers and company may want them to find some mystical treasure, but someone else had it in for them. The prefect was clean. The Senegalese gangs didn’t have this reach, and Sam and Bucky couldn’t find any more ties to the usual suspects in their vicinity. That didn’t mean they were going to count them out. It just meant they weren’t going to actively attack if not necessary.

Stark’s thorium vault was an open secret it turns out. A disgruntled worker stumbled on some financials and sold the information when he got canned for sexual harassment a year ago. No one had the technology to take a run at Friday, until now. Jarvis was Stark’s full service AI. Friday was his closed circuit system for high security locations. That vault had been untouched because most thought it was impenetrable. If they can get to the thorium they could get to Stark’s other little dirty secrets. Myers definitely did not have the means or intellect to pull this off. The guy was clever, not Banner. He had a partner or benefactor. One that wouldn’t be revealed tonight.

Sam looked around his room. _Shit._ He hadn’t been in Lemoncito for 2 years. A photograph of him and Steve stared back at him. Sam got up and took down the photo. They looked happy. This was before they took their relationship to another level. Okay, so he missed Steve too, and not in a romantic sense. This feeling is what he feared when they started fooling around. He lost one of his best friends. Closing that door hurts. It hurts more than Steve leaving. If they finally said what they had to say, would that be the end? Steve used to have him stitches during a time when missing Riley was overwhelming instead of the muted heartbreak it was now. The pain would never leave, it popped up sometimes out of the blue to knock him to his knees, but at least, most of the time, he could breath. Steve was one of the reasons he got to this point. He had to face him even if it was goodbye. It was selfish not to. His mama raised him better.

Sam opened his desk drawer to drop the photo in and found another. Why hadn’t he burned this? This night was wild. He, Steve and Barnes smirked at the camera, drunk as hell. Sam still hadn’t figured out if it was a bet or a dare, but they had been flirting with him incessantly that night. Sam almost left both their asses at the bar, but he didn’t. He stayed and made a choice. Sam got a chance to see what Barnes was like before life had put him through the ringer, but he realized sadly that it was a good night for the sniper, a fleeting one. Now he had to deal with the repercussions of that night before they dealt with pirates and shit. Sam had a nice office in the VA, and now within hours he was storming treasure island. Okay, so it was pretty cool. 

  
  



	4. Chapter 4

When Sam walked into the gym, Barnes and Romanov were sparring _or engaging in foreplay._ Sam couldn’t tell. That made him want to turn around and walk out, but Natasha eyed him, her left thigh constricting Barnes’s airway. He couldn’t chicken out. Barnes moved so fast it took Sam a while to register that the sniper and Natasha had changed positions. The redhead was pinned to the floor face down, Barnes’s weight constraining her. She struggled swatting at his head. Barnes curled into her back to protect himself. 

Sam couldn’t look at that too long and accomplish what he came to do. So, he walked right past them to Steve who was pounding into a punching bag. The chain groaned in protest. Dust plumed in the air with every contact. Steve kept punching even though Sam stood near him. _Okay, I deserve that_ , Sam thought.

When he was tired of waiting, Sam yelled, “Hey, can I talk to you, man?” over knuckles hitting the leather. Thunk. Thunk. Thunk. Sam could die if he took one of those taped fists to the head.

“Oh, you want to talk to me?” Steve asked, sweat flying off his face as he leaned into the punches.

“Alright, asshole,” Sam said, turning to walk away. He stopped abruptly when he realized the gym was empty. Silence fell behind him.

“What do you want to talk about?” Steve said, huffing as he wiped his brow.

“Closure,” Sam said, honestly. 

Steve's eyes grew wider. He nodded and swallowed, “Sam, I want to apologize to you for how everything went down.”

“You mean when you left me and moved to Brooklyn,” Sam asked. If he was going to do this, he was going to do this.

“If that’s the way you want to characterize it,” Steve answered. 

Sam suggested therapy when they first started dating. It irritated him to no end when Steve threw therapy-speak at him. “If that’s the way I want to characterize it? How would you characterize it?”

“I don’t want to do this. Snipe at each other. I just want us to be okay,” Steve said, somberly.

“You have been bugging me all week to talk to you, and now, you don’t want to do this?”

“I want us to work towards being friends again.”

“I can’t be friends with someone who abandoned me. That’s not how friendship works.”

“I didn’t abandon you. You left our relationship long before I walked out the door. And I loved you too much. I couldn’t take it. I had to go.”

“What are you talking about? I was right there,” Sam said, confused.

“Were you? Honestly? You were in our relationship? Truly in?” Steve questioned. 

Sam thought of their time together. They were fine. Was it all fireworks and serenades, no, but they were fine, and then he realized what Steve really meant. “That’s not fair,” Sam said near tears.

“I know. I know, which is why I didn’t want to go there,” Steve said, waiting until Sam’s eyes stopped glistening. He spoke softly, “I realized I shouldn’t have pushed so fast. I was just so into you, but you never really wanted me. Did you? Not like that.” Steve swallowed the hurt he had been fighting for the past year.

“I thought I did,” Sam confessed. “We were so good together...as friends. I just thought...”

“Yeah, so I couldn’t stay. I couldn’t breath the same air. Exist in the same space without losing my mind. So, I left.”

“You never said anything, you just packed your shit, and disappeared. Maybe I wasn’t giving you what you wanted, but I cared for you. I loved you. It hurt, Steve.”

“Maybe I wanted it to hurt, for you to miss me. I’m wrong for that. I know that. I’m sorry, but I didn’t know what to do. What kind of asshole is jealous of a ghost?”

“An honest one. My stupid ass ex, apparently.”

“Apparently.”

-o0o-

Sam was humming. He had to admit it. Natasha was right. Getting everything he had to say to Steve out improved his mood. He was also going to get to use his new and improved wings in the field for the first time. And by field, Sam meant a jungle island with billions of dollars buried on it supposedly. If the Ark of the Covenant was really there it was priceless. 

Sam’s mama went to church occasionally. Sometimes she could talk him into going. He was raised christian. He just wasn’t so familiar with the Lord like he used to be when he was shuttled off to Sunday school every 2nd and 4th Sunday, but he still had to pause and really think about what this job could mean, not only for him and his crew, but for the world. Steve broke out the rosary. Even Barnes, who Sam had just found out was half Jewish was resigned. Barton kept reading superstitions and myths about the ark online.The rest of the crew saw it as another job. Stark saw it as a nuisance.

Sam was checking his firearm before storing it in his case and bag. He thought about taking Rhonda, his M9, but he already had the Sig and glocks, and the wings were on the heavy side. 

“Take the M9,” Barnes said behind him. Sam did not jump. The sniper went over to his locker and started loading up probably his third bag of weapons. “You're more comfortable with her. The Sig is pretty, Peacock, but your M9 is your tried and true.”

“Yeah, I guess you’re right,” Sam said. Rhonda had got him through three tours and two years of this crazy ass life.

“Looks like you and Steve made up. You guys going to be all over one another again?” Barnes asked, taking out what looked like a bazooka. Did they need bazookas? Sam hoped they didn’t need bazookas. He thought about the last few days. Okay, they probably needed bazookas.

“A. No. B. Steve has a boyfriend. C. We’re better as friends. D. I don’t want to hear about all over one another when you and Ro-” Sam was cut off by the newly dubbed Widow entering the room. Widow was badass as codenames go.

“Hey boys, you ready to do this?” Natasha asked.

_Speak of the devil_ , Sam thought. “Treasure. Pirates. Lazy eights in the sky. I’m ready, baby.”

Romanov laughed at Sam and looked over to her friend. “Bucky?”

“Odinson got something he wants me to try out,” Barnes smiled, evilly.

“Oh shit,” Sam gulped.

That made Barnes smile wider, “I’m ready too.” Sam turned away from Barnes’s maniacal glee and looked over to the Romanov. She was back in her “work” clothes. Sam didn’t know if Barnes owned casual clothes. Well that was a lie, there was that one time, and the disguises he used.

“What about you, Red?” Sam asked, smiling, lifting his bag on his shoulder.

“I stay ready,” Romanov said, closing the locker she had just been assigned and walking out of the room. Sam believed her.

-o0o-

Sam landed the plane in one of the few clearings on the national park. Barton was up and in the trees before Steve stepped out the plane with Fury backing him up. Sam grabbed his gear bringing up the rear as Stark started up his locator. Banner had his own device. It amounted to a souped up gold detector, but like Stark, Sam thought this was pointless. There had to be hundreds if not thousands who had combed this island for the treasure. If the gold and jewels ever existed, they’re probably in the private collections of the ultra rich.

It may be futile, but the job has been pretty cool. The yacht was great until the bullets, and this island was beautiful. Sam could see mountains through the foliage. He heard running water that could only be a waterfall, and he was standing in a rainforest. Color and sound surrounded them. The birds sang happily. Sam tried not to get excited as he spotted a finch and cuckoo. They already went overboard teasing him with the bird thing. 

Monkeys screeched at them for disturbing their peace. Pigs kept trying to attack them. And, it was funny seeing big ass Steve freak out over a wittle bitty black widow spider on his arm, and even funnier when Widow picked it off lovingly and placed it safely back on a leaf. “до свидания младшая сестра,“ She cooed at the arachnid. A shiver went down Sam’s back.

To everyone’s surprise both Banner and Stark’s devices started to ping. To no one’s surprise bullets started to ping as well. Barton dropped four bodies, Barnes six. So somebody had been watching and waiting.

“Scientists live here you know,” Stark said to the sky. No one actually knew where their two snipers were located, currently.

“Scientists don’t carry M4’s,” Came back over the comms.

“Ours do,” Nick said, smiling at Dr. Odinson’s new toy. “Stark, Banner what’s up?” 

“I’m getting a reading from 5 miles northeast of here,” Banner said.

“My readings basically say the same thing you know except it’s 4.96 miles. I’m not judging your science or anything,” Stark said.

“Yeah, sure,” Banner said.

“Are you using infrared, x-ray, and/or UV?” Dr. Odinson asked the weapons manufacturer.

“Yes,” Stark said, leading the group into a particularly thick part of the jungle. 

Sam could tell they were closer to the waterfall and mountain. The ground went from soil to rock.

“What the fuck?” Stark said, tapping his screen. Stark looked over to Banner.

“Yeah, me too,” The scientist responded.

“Let the dummies know,” Barton said, landing behind Sam.

“I ain’t no dummy,” Fury said.

“The signal’s gone,” Banner said, turning knobs on his device.

“Gone? Great,” Steve said sitting on a rock.

“What does that mean?” Fury asked. 

“I don’t know, yet. My guess is something’s interfering.”

Barnes dropped down from his hidden location and ran over to Steve. “Help me get it off,” He gritted out. His face contorted in pain. The gears on his arms were spinning, the plates opening and closing at random. Steve jumped to his feet, helping to remove James’s tact vest. Barnes tried to remove his shirt, but it got stuck on his malfunctioning arm. Steve tugged, but the material was wrapping around the gears. It took Romanov using her blade to free him. Steve worked to help unfasten the arm from the man’s shoulder. When they had it detached from his shoulder, Steve unplugged the wires that fed into Barnes’s synaptic system. The arm went nuts. Steve had to drop it on the ground to keep it from slicing his fingers off. 

“Has it ever done that before?” Odinson said, looking at the prosthetic. 

“Never. I was using all my control to slow it down. It was rejecting my commands.” Odinson bent down, but stepped back when the arms slid forward on the jungle floor. 

“The arm is vibranium?” Stark asked, watching it slide two more feet. Wakanda Labs worked primarily in vibranium.

“It’s an alloy,” Barnes responded.

“Oh,” Banner said smiling. 

“Son of bitch,” Tony said, typing into the screen.

Nick shook his head, “Y’all eggheads want to let us in on your breakthrough.”

“How far are we from the equator?”

“No, really?” Thor said, watching the arm slide again. Bucky pulled a giant machete from his back and batted his arm back to its original spot. It slid again. Fury sighed, but went and grabbed a giant rock. Sam caught on and grabbed two more. They barricaded the metal limb. 

“It’s the magnetic equator,” Stark said.

“Should it be this far north?” Odison asked.

“The geographic equator is a line they draw to make navigation easier. The magnetic equator is actual natural forces acting on the earth. It’s not a straight line.” Banner said. He had dropped the gold detector and pulled out his tablet.

“We’re still pretty far away,” Dr. Odinson reiterated.

“You’re right, but it’s close. Close enough that certain materials with the right properties could react to it,” Stark said.

“Like vibranium,” Barnes said.

“Smart and deadly. If I wasn’t engaged,” Stark joked. Barnes blinked at him. “What?” Stark asked, grinning. 

“You were afraid to be alone with me not two days ago. You called me cyborg assassin,” Barnes pointed out.

“Is that not what you are? You’re a lot to take in, but once you do. Take it all in,” Stark said, looking him up and down. Barnes put his hand in his pocket. Stark didn't want to know what he kept there. No one did.

“Leave him alone, Stark,” Fury warned.

“What? Is it my fault he looks like that? Romanov, you're seeing what I’m seeing right?” The bodyguard ignored him.

“Wilson. Come one, now. I know you know,” Stark continued.

“What?” Sam asked, taken aback. Why would he know? Well, okay, he knew, but they weren’t supposed to know he knew! Everyone was looking at him now, and gahtdammit, Natasha was smiling again. Sam huffed, “Stark what does the equator-”

“Magnetic equator,” Banner interjected.

“Thank you,” Sam continued, “Have to do with the treasure we need to find to trade and get your thorium back?”

“Because...now we know why no one could find the treasure,” Stark said, tapping into his screen.

“Wait, You’re saying there’s a treasure?” Barton said, happy.

“Vibranium is the most expensive and rarest metal in the world. It’s only found in one place,” Stark said, tabulating his findings. He looked to Steve, “Which is why your boyfriend is technically the richest person in the world, by the way. I wasn’t born with a vibranium deposit in my backyard, Mr. Anti-Capitalism. Does the oligarch you sleep with every night get the judgement I’ve had to endure?” 

“No, Wakanda is a mixed economy with plenty of socialist programs that my boyfriend’s family helped to champion. You _were_ born with a giant ego and a billion dollar corporation,” Steve responded.

“Treasure hunt!” Nick reminded them.

Stark continued, “Somehow there is enough vibranium on this island somewhere to throw off all readings. Typically and based off the limited evidence we have, rare metals like gold, silver, platinum, and vibranium go well with diamonds, rubies and emeralds.”

“And the Ark of the Covenant,” Nick said. “Motherfucker...Can you guys get an accurate read?”

“Hmm...Let’s see the greatest computer engineer in the world-”

“Arguable,” Steve chimed. 

Stark ignored him and continued, “An infamous biochemist and innovative nuclear physicist. I don’t know?”

“If Stark would stop yapping and feed my readings into Jarvis while Thor recalibrates the detector it will take…”

“Done,” Odinson said, putting down the gold finding device.

“Three minutes,” Banner said, handing his tablet over to Stark.

“Did you reroute the…” Stark asked.

“Yep,” Banner answered.

“What about calibrating 8 degrees?”

“It’s actually 8.02 degrees, but I’m not knocking your science,” Banner said. 

Sam didn’t understand a thing they were saying, and it had nothing to do with their genius. Barnes was still standing around half naked. His shoulder was scarred where the prosthetic attached. He had other marks and bruises all over his back and torso. Sam felt guilty looking at him because mostly all he could see was the chorded strength that were his muscles. Sam had an overwhelming need to bite at his shoulder blades. _What was happening to him?_

“You got a little drool on your chin,” Natasha whispered, wiping at his face with a handkerchief.

“You’re not a nice lady,” Sam said.

“I know,” she mouthed, walking over to Barton. Steve disappeared into the brush, probably to relieve himself. Barnes walked over to him since everyone else was occupied.

“I’m going back up,” Barnes said, grabbing his tact vest.

“Like that?” Sam choked out. 

“Like what?” Barnes said, pulling the straps on his vest. “They're going to need the arm.” 

_Dear god, he looked so delicious._ “Man, there is all kind of creepy crawler shit, poison oak. And what about sunburn? You mean you packed 900 weapons and not an extra shirt.”

“Shirt’s not going to save my life, but my vest and Eloise will. I’m not as delicate as you, Peacock.”

“Here man,” Sam said, taking off his pack and throwing his extra t-shirt in Barnes’s face.

Barnes huffed, but started pulling off his vest again. “You could have given me this a minute ago.” Sam tried to help him.

“I got it,” Barnes said, stretching the shirt over his wide shoulders. Sam backed away his arms raised in acquiescence. Sam was by no means a little man, but Barnes, Odinson, and Steve made him feel like he was tiny. “Satisfied? Now my circulation is going to be cut off.” Barnes said. He moved from side to side and wound his arm, testing his range of motion. Sam smirked. The shirt did look like it was being stretched to its limits.

“Do you have on Riri’s shirt?” Steve, said coming back from taking a piss. Steve had no room to joke. His shirts were just as tight if not more.

“Basically,” Barnes said, suited back up. He ran and jumped, bouncing back and forth off two giant tree trunks and disappeared into the branches. There was a reason Barnes was considered one of the best tracers on the planet.

-o0o-

“This rock is solid. There is no secret door behind the waterfall, and I’m glad, if there was, it would be so cliche,” Clint said from the cliff above them.

“Cliche or not I’m getting a reading,” Banner said. Sam wasn’t paying too much attention now. He was playing in the water rushing behind the group as most of them were still trying to fondle the mountain wall. He got tired after thirty minutes. Him and Barnes were splashing water at each other. They tried to splash Natasha, but the look she gave them made them think better of it.

“What’s _your_ thingie say?” Steve asked Stark, standing from his crouching position. He had been examining the ground in front of the wall.

“It says this is a mountain. With no cavity within 100 feet of here, but again we may still be having some reading interference. Jarvis, I remember a reference to a waterfall in the journal entries I read.”

“There are several references sir. They all come down to Captain Thompson wanting his wife to see the beauty of the island. I would also like to point out that Coco Island has at least three waterfalls.”

“This is the right one,” Banner said, adamant his readings were accurate. 

Sam scooped up some water and tossed it towards Barnes’s right eye while he was turned. The bastard leaned out of the way at the last minute and the water hit Fury. Fury glared at them. “Annie, left corner. Falcon, right,” their boss barked. Sam was glad most of the water hit a grouping of rocks. Fury’s eyes scrunched as he looked at the ground. “Everyone, shut up.” He went over to the fall and scooped water splashing it near where he was standing a moment ago. Sam could clearly hear water draining. Everyone watched the water seep below. Steve came over and removed some of the rocks revealing an engraved stone.

“Berta,” Fury said, reading the engraving. 

“Now, that does not belong there,” Clint said, staring down at the rock. Steve dug in and tried to remove the engraved one, but it would not budge. Odinson handed the gold detector to Sam and went over to help. The small whole they revealed was filled with leaves, spider webs, and bones. The fearless scientist went to reach into the whole. Sam shook his head. Odinson thought he was immortal. Barnes stopped him and handed Thor a small dowel. When all was clear they were left with a small waxed rope sticking up haphazardly through the rock.

“What are we looking at?” Clint asked from above. Hawkeye was good, but the thin rope was probably hard to see from his viewpoint.

“That is a wick,” Odinson answered. 

“And what happens if we light it?” Steve asked.

“I’m guessing boom,” Stark answered.

“And bullets. The blast is going to give away our location to whoever the hell is behind this,” Barnes said.

“Duh, it’s going to blow, but where?” Steve clarified.

“They keep you around for the muscles, huh. It’s coming from the ground, genius,” Stark said. 

“Yes, but would it collapse this shelf? That doesn’t make any sense. How would you access the hole.” 

“Someone who understands munitions, like Odinson could create a controlled blast,” Stark said.

“So we’re just going to assume some turncoat thief from the 19th century understood the math and blast radius of dynamite,” Steve responded.

“Ooh you used a lot of big words there, Cap,” Stark teased.

“For Fuck Sakes, not you two, also. I’m running a gahtdamn daycare. War Maker, point the infrared over here please. Cap, go to the corner with Annie O,” Nick ordered. The men did what they were told.

“It’s solid as I have been saying.”

“Flip to x-ray,” Banner said.

“UV would provide a deeper analysis, but I’ll humor you,” Stark said switching between tabs. It’s still...wait… there are thousands of tiny fissures.”

“Which means?” Banner said, smirking.

“There is a filled tunnel below the shelf. Thompson was pretty smart,” Stark said.

“The blast was meant to clear it,” Banner said.

“So, we are going to blow up the shelf we’re on with 200 year dynamite?” Steve quipped, shaking his head.

“No,” Fury answered. “Thunder, I need an escape hatch.”

Thor nodded, walking over to his pack. “Annie?” Dr. Odinson said.

“Really?” Barnes asked, his face blooming into an evil smile. _Oh, Jesus._ Sam thought.

“Yes. They want a tunnel. Let’s give them one,” Odinson said. He pulled out a funny looking gun, gloves, and goggles. “Everyone please go over to the right side of the shelf please. Everyone happily backed away except Stark, who Banner forcibly moved out of harm’s way. Sam watched Bucky pull out a similar gun, but then out came a liquid nitrogen canister. The sniper attached the canister to the gun and moved a tiny bit closer to Odinson.

“Where is my funny looking gun?” Clint said, miffed.

“Shield your eyes, friends.” Thor said before a red beam shot out of his gun. The water falling beside Thor started to steam. The air misted, and the ground at the scientist’s feet turned molten.

“Is the viking king melting millenia old granite rock with a super soaker?” Stark asked.

“Looks like,” Sam said, rubbing his beard nervously. Stark was giving Steve shit, but Sam had to admit, his ex had a point. 

“Annie, I need you!” Thor shouted. Barnes rushed over. Thor pointed to the whole that was forming. Barnes nodded, and a cold blast rushed out of the sniper’s new toy. Red molten rock cooled to a blue gray. The two men switched back and forth until they had a sizable tunnel in the ground below them.

“Thunder, you're getting close to- WATCH FOR THE DYNAMITE!” Stark yelled from his seat on the ground. He had been watching the progress with his spectrometer. Some of the excess rock flowed to the explosives quicker than Barnes could cool it. There was a blast. 

“ _Fuck_!” Thor exclaimed. The ground rumbled beneath them. They could hear a cascade of rock falling in the tunnel. The rock slide shook the shelf they were on violently. Odinson and Barnes tried to stumble back to the crew by the mountain wall, but when Barnes moved around the whole he tripped and pitched over the side of the shelf through the waterfall. Sam did not even think. He dove off the cliff after him. His wings releasing then pushing back to aid his dive. Barnes fell below him horizontally, his arms and legs spread to slow his descent, to be easily catchable. Sam’s wing spread when he was near his target. Hooked his arms around the sniper’s waist tightly. His wings pulled down abruptly to force their ascent. When Sam realized they were okay. Barnes was safely in his arms.

“You stupid reckless dummy,” Sam growled in his ears.

“What? You needed something to do anyway,” Barnes said, clearly shaken. “My hero,” He added, a moment later when his heart rate and breathing was under control. 

“This is not how I wanted my virgin flight to go!” Sam said, preparing for landing.

“We don’t always lose it to who we want. At least I get to say I popped your cherry,” Barnes answered. 

“I will drop your ass off this fucking cliff.” Sam replied.

“I don’t think you will, sweetheart.” Barnes said, his feet touching the shelf. Steve pulled Barnes out of Sam’s arms through the waterfall into his.

“Thank god, Bucky,” Steve cried. Fury clapped Sam on his back when he landed. He and Banner bumped fist. Natasha punched him in the shoulder. Steve let go of Barnes and reached for Sam. Everything in Sam screamed NO, but the boxer was too quick. “Don’t do that again,” he whispered into Sam’s shoulder.

“Talk to your boy about that.” Sam said, patting Steve on the back. Sam felt it when Steve realized he had skipped past the line in the heat of the moment. 

“Sorry I was just…” Steve said.

“Yeah, It’s all good.” Sam responded.

“Nice flying, Falcon,” Clint said. He had somehow made it down to the shelf.

“They handle pretty well, yeah? Riri bounced a few ideas off of me,” Thor said. “She’s outdone herself.”

“She did,” Sam and Barnes said in unison.

“She really did,” Barnes said, smiling at Sam. 

“It was a daring feat. And I’m happy the cyborg assassin is still with us. So…” Stark clapped his hand. “Who wants to go down the rabbit whole first?”


	5. Chapter 5

If Sam was claustrophobic, he would be having a full on panic attack. Hell, if they didn’t get out of this narrow tunnel soon, he probably was going to have one. There was so much dust, animal skins, and droppings, and they had been crawling, scooting, dragging themselves through this tunnel for 30 minutes. The chemlights made it worse because everything was coming out of the cracks and crevices to see what the strange light was. He wasn’t used to bugs being the size of your hand or Rats that were the size of fat house cats. 

“Hold up,” Odinson said at the front of their parade. Sam could hear some scraping and shifting. He did not want the giant mountain to fall on his head. He trusted his people, but the dark and dank reminded him of a living nightmare he had yet to escape, a nightmare Riley didn’t escape.

“What’s the holdup?” Sam asked after several moments.

“Path isn't clear. Everyone sit tight for a few minutes. I got something in my pack I think will do the trick,” Odinson said his headlamp, blinding them as he wiggled around in the tight space. Sam was surprised Thor and Steve could fit their swole asses up in here. Sam on the other hand had enough room to sit. He pulled his knees up and dropped his head on them to breathe. When Barnes put his metal hand on his neck he jumped, thinking some nocturnal creature was trying to use him for a snack. He expected a snicker, but Barnes patted his shoulder with two fingers to signal it was just him, but then he put his hand back. Sam could object, but the coolness of the metal felt good against Sam’s skin, especially in this stifling environment. Barnes hand stayed there until it was warm, until Odinson yelled, “All clear. Watch for the sizzling bits!”

“Ow! Shit! Now you tell us,” Stark exclaimed.

“Sorry, Friend,” Dr. Odinson said, moving back down the path. 

-o0o-

No one would go near it. They all just kind of went around the cavern touching things-gold doubloons, 25 carat emeralds, bricks of vibranium, but no one went near the two giant artifacts in the back covered in tattered cloth. Gold peeped through the stained hemp draped in webs and excrement. It was one thing to be agnostic, another to be disrespectful. Sam was a believer and his mama did not raise a fool. He stayed on the opposite side of the cavern. He took a selfie with a giant sapphire-his birthstone, and that’s all he really messed with. 

Steve didn’t touch anything. He prayed no less than three times and found a barren corner to eat two MREs. Sam had to laugh because the artist was clearly judging all of them. It didn’t stop him from pulling out a pad and sketching. 

Barnes prayed at least once, but then he spent all of his time examining the weapons. Peruvians appeared to be into gold daggers and swords and spears. There were a lot of them. They all had to have a fucked balance, but Sam had no doubt pretty, not efficiency, was the point. Sam also noted that Barnes seemed to like pretty too, a particular cuff had caught the sniper’s eye. It was gold with onyx inlay. The sniper touched it with yearning. He tried it on, and even smiled. When he looked up and saw Sam watching him. He took it off and scowled at him. _Yeah, that shit doesn’t work anymore, Annie O._

Thor was preoccupied with an ax. He almost beheaded Barton who was skipping through the cavern adorned with every piece of jewelry he could find. The archer audibly gasped when he found a tiara. He put it on and continued his circuit dropping diamond encrusted necklaces around Romanov’s neck as he went. She had uncovered a painting. It was of a countryside, filled with colorful plants and viridescent palms. The effects of time had dulled it’s full vibrancy, but it was still a lovely work. She took out a flask and a pbj sandwich and parked herself in front of it. Steve was trying his best not to get up and go join her. Barnes huffed, shook his head at his friend, and then got up and took pictures of the work. He stopped off at the pile of vibranium Banner was attending. He picked up a brick in his flesh hand weighing it against his arm. When satisfied, he came and sat back down, handing his phone to Steve. Banner’s interest in the vibranium was deeper. He took reading after reading. He wasn’t the only one all business.

Stark like the rest of them cut a wide swath for the ark while he took pictures of the different artifacts in the room. It was cool to find pirate treasure everyone was looking for, but most of this stuff belonged to the people of Lima. The ark belongs in Jerusalem. To be real, when you worked for Nick Fury rooms of diamonds and gold bricks were a Tuesday. This wasn’t even the job. Nick collected a few minted coins and a tiny emerald to prove they found the treasure. Stark took hundreds of pictures while the rest of the crew ate, slept, and checked messages on their satellite phones until Stark with Banner and Romanov’s help could catalog everything. When it was time to take a picture of the Ark of the Covenant and Statue of Mary. Stark simply turned and snapped the photo- tarp, animal droppings, and all.

“I require sustenance,” Stark said, coming to sit with the group. Half of them were asleep. He opened the MRE, Nick had given all of them and gagged. He put it down and pulled a protein bar out of his pack. After stealing Sam’s chips, Barnes had gone and took up watch by the entrance with Eloise in his lap. Barton was hanging from the ceiling.

“Stark when you're watered. We’ll move out. Contact that number-” Nick started. A ping interrupted him. 

Banner startled awake looking down at his pad. “Guys, I’m getting a reading,” Banner said, his brow furrowed in concern.

“Gamma?” Stark said, eating dehydrated blueberries. He put down the bag and picked up his tablet when Banner didn’t answer him right away.

“No. It’s some kind of quantum disturbance,” Banner said.

“Quantum?” Nick asked. A white shadow appeared in the room. “What the fuck is that?” Nick yelled. Barnes raised Eloise.

“No, they’re phasing. It’ll go right through them,” Stark said, quickly. 

“They?” Nick said. Barnes sped towards the vibranium. The shadow appeared. He tried to grab it, but got knocked across the room. An arrow streamed towards the being, but it disappeared, and the vibranium stack was encased in hardened foam. The spectre appeared again by Romanov’s painting. Thor’s taser beam scorched the frame. Seconds later, the phantom was by the tarp, which pulled a charging Steve up short. Sam ran into a wall of muscle while Romanov flipped over the UFC Fighter, using his shoulder to launch herself higher. She dove towards the shadow, but it blinked away along with the Statue and Ark. 

“Soooo pirates, and now, ghosts,” Sam said, rubbing his nose. 

-o0o-

They all watched the interview in the common room. Stark was cheesing and hamming it up for Robin and George. Sam made breakfast while Barton and Barnes ate their way through two boxes of lucky charms. They were on call. It didn’t make sense to go home if they were going to have to fly out at a second's notice. Sam plugged up the waffle iron once he got the batter ready. When he turned to watch the interview Barnes was stealing another piece of bacon. Sam ignored him. Barnes could have absconded with the whole plate before Sam knew he had been there. He was doing it to get a rise out of him, and it was too early for that shit. He walked over to the island and moved the platter to the counter by the fridge behind him. So he could watch the segment.

“What made you want to find the Lost Treasure of Lima?” Robin Roberts asked. Stark leaned back, pretending to consider her question. 

He went with, “My dad was a big history buff. I discovered some old journals of Captain William Thompson’s wife he had procured and I got curious.” 

“And Captain Thompson was the officer that stole the treasure and hid it on this national wildlife reserve, Costa Rica’s Coco Island, in the 19th century.”

“Yes,” Stark said.

“It says here that over 156 teams have scoured the Island and were unable to locate the treasure, but you did using a gold detector?” George Stephanopolous asked, amazed.

“My technology is a little more advanced than the average explorer,” Stark winked. “But honestly, I also hired a team of experts to help me.”

“And they wished to remain anonymous?” Robin asked.

“They were in it for science and history. _And_ , I will be splitting the finder’s reward with them. Of course my portion will be donated to the Maria Stark Foundation. We put the best and brightest through college and fund their future research endeavors.”

“Did you know he was going to do that?” Steve asked Nick. Sam could tell Steve was reevaluating the billionaire. 

“Nope,” Their boss said, continuing to read reports he had to be behind on. Fury was probably running ten operations as we speak. The fact that he felt the need to babysit them meant he thought it was super important. 

“Soup’s on,” Sam said, pulling his waffle out of the iron. He spooned fruit salad, eggs, and bacon onto his plate. He went to go sit at the large dining table while everyone moved around the kitchen. _Shit. I forgot my juice_ , Sam thought. He got up to get it, when Barnes slid a glass of orange juice in front of him. Barnes sat beside him eating a waffle folded like a taco crammed with bacon and eggs. “Thank you,” Sam said, going back to his meal. Barnes grunted at him and stole a strawberry off his plate. Romanov sat on the other side of Sam. She was eating one slice of bacon and drinking her tea. Tea she spooned Sam’s strawberry jam into. _To each its own._

“So we’re basically millionaires,” Clint said, sitting at the table with a full plate even though he had just eaten three bowls of cereal. Banner smiled at that. He was probably thinking of all the research he could do.

“Seems like,” Nick said, cutting into his waffle.

“We could technically cut and run,” Natasha suggested. She was testing again.

“If you want,” Nick answered.

“You're not going to do that... are you?” Natasha asked, sizing up her new boss and team.

“Stark hired me to do a job. I’m going to do it. If you guys want to cut bait, I’ll send you your check.” Nick said, looking at Sam. Everyone looked between the two men except Barnes. He was looking down at his plate. Sam had been wanting out for a while now. And he had everything he needed to start his new life, but he was a man of principles. 

“I finish what I start,” Sam said, forking a pineapple chunk.

“Damn right,” Thor said, cutting into his three waffles.

“Do we know who our ghost is yet?” Steve asked. He was probably missing his boyfriend.

“Stark says Jarvis is working on that, but I like to hedge my bets,” Nick said, pushing the remote to the projector. The call went through and a familiar face popped on the screen. 

“I can’t believe the one time I don’t take a gig, you find a secret pirate treasure. I could be rich right now.”

A chorus of “Riri!” went out around the table.

“From what I understand, you’ll probably be one in a few days.” Nick responded.

“Hey, guys! _And, Gal?_ Wait…” Riri’s eyes, narrowed looking towards Natasha. “Is that Natalia Romanov?”

“I go by Natasha, now.”

“Oh my gosh! You killed three men with a ruler!” Riri exclaimed. 

“I killed 30 men in under a minute, Reese Peanut Butter Cup.” Barnes interjected. 

“Bucky, Lulu doesn’t count,” Riri explained.

“Lulu?” The redhead asked.

“His automatic. I killed lots of guys with my hands, Ri.” Steve pointed out. Steve and Barnes were pathetic. They were always vying to be the best big brother. Everyone knows Sam had it in the bag.

“Your fists are registered deadly weapons in 39 states. Ms. Romanov uses her ingenuity. Plus, I get tired of being outnumbered. Maria and Carol will be glad you're here too,” Riri informed.

“Now that you have welcomed Romanov to the club. Do you have anything?” Nick asked.

“No, I have everything. This is Ava Starr,” The screen split in two. One side had Riri’s cute face, the other, a very beautiful woman. The teenager continued, “She is a world class thief. She has never been caught. Her father and mother were scientists who were experts in quantum energy.”

“Were?” Nick asked.

“They both died in an accident at work. The blast that killed them left many items in their lab intangible like this creepy ass suit.” Riri said, pulling up the ghost they saw in the cavern. “Ava uses it to pull off some pretty high profile robberies.”

“How come we haven’t heard of her?” Clint asked crunching on bacon.

“You have but didn’t know it-First Ukranian International Bank three years ago.”

“That was her?” Natasha asked, shocked. 

“Yep,” Riri said, pulling up the crime scene details.

“She made off with a lot of bad people’s money. People thought Baba Yaga came to teach them a lesson,” Natasha said.

“Think of any impossible robbery in the past five years, and I bet you Ava Starr was there,” Riri explained.

“How do you know this?” Thor asked, drinking milk.

“I asked Bruce for his readings and looked at NASA’s satellite images of Coco Island. I did a few tweaks and found there are still tiny quantum fluctuations there. N.A.T.A.L.I.E ran scans of the entire planet and I came back with 39 sites with fading fluctuations across the planet including the bookstore in Dakar. I cross referenced that with Interpol’s crime database and…”

“Are you saying you have a way to track Ava Starr?” Sam asked.

“I’m saying I can track her suit when it’s in action, Sammy.” Riri answered.

“How does Myers fit into this?” Clint asked. Everyone smirked at him. “He’s not my arch nemesis.”

“Myers has been spotted at 23 of the locations I’ve identified. Interpol is taking a hard look at him. He is either an accessory or her patsy.”

“You’re a scary little girl,” Nick said, finishing his coffee.

“Hey! I’m a scary woman,” Riri exclaimed.

“Yeah, you are!” Steve encouraged, looking down at his phone. “I need to take this,” He said, stepping out of the room. Sam watched him go.

“You know, if you said something. He might consider-” Barnes whispered to Sam.

“Consider what?” Sam asked, watching Barnes’s unreadable face. He was hiding again. “I know that’s your boy and everything, but your constant cheerleading ain’t it.” Sam said. It really wasn’t, especially because Sam was pretty sure he was falling for Barnes, and he kept trying to push him at Steve, which makes sense, but it’s annoying. Nick was right. His love life was a soap opera.

“I just think everyone deserves to be happy,” Barnes said, fiddling with the crumbs on his plate.

“That includes you, you know,” Natasha chimed. Barnes was shocked for whatever reason. It’s not like he didn’t know she would be listening in. Sam had her number now. She was always listening in.

“ _And,”_ Sam emphasized _. “_ A romantic relationship with Steve won’t make me happy.”

“Because of Riley,” Barnes guessed.

“Because he’s meant to be my friend. I think I knew that then, and I damn sure know it now,” Sam said, finishing up and putting his napkin on his plate. Barnes stood up abruptly, grabbing everyone’s dish, including Clint’s who was still eating.

“Hey!” Clint said, rescuing his last piece of waffle.

“So, you’re single?” Romanov flirted. She was fun, and Sam couldn’t help but play along with her little game.

“I am. Why, you’re putting in your application?” Sam said, leaning towards her.

“Don’t you wish. I might pick one up for a friend though,” Natasha smiled.

“Are they cute?” Sam asked.

“When they want to be,” She answered.

“Don’t be trying to hook me up with no scrubs.”

“Oh, I used to love that song, but no. My friend takes care of himself and everyone he cares about.”

“I wouldn’t mind being cared for right now,” Sam admits with a sigh.

“I don’t know. If you look around you might find you already are,” Natasha answered, slipping away from the table. Sam watched her go, shaking his head. He looked around at his co-workers who were more like family. She may have had a point.

“We are moving out in three hours. Pack warm,” Nick said, walking out of the room towards his office. 

“Guys, I think I cracked this thing,” Tony said walking in the room. He still had on his interview suit. Colonel Rhodes was behind him. “Jarvis thinks a woman named-”

“Ava Starr,” Steve said, eating the last two pieces of bacon on the platter before Bucky washed it. 

“Hi, Mr. Stark,” Riri said from the screen.

“I thought we had a deal?” Stark said.

“We do. The pirate treasure caper is not the thorium vault caper.”

“Semantics,” Stark said, sitting down at the counter grabbing grapes and a waffle wedge. “So what’s up? When do we ship out?” Stark asked feeding a grape to Colonel Rhodes.

“Wheels up at 1100 hours,” Sam said, placing his juice cup in the sink, while Barnes was washing dishes. Barnes splashed water in his face. “I hate you.”

Barnes smiled at that. “Feeling’s mutual, Peacock.” 


	6. Chapter 6

Fred Myers dropped into their life when he auditioned for Fury. His schtick was boomerangs. He’s pretty good with the things. He is also a really angry guy. I would be angry too if I blew my spot in the major leagues. Who tries to throw the MLB playoffs? Barnes and Steve hated him on principle.

Clint’s hate took a little longer to come about. Clint accepts everyone, especially if they have a storied past. He likes to help people on the right path because Fury and Colson accepted and helped him. So, Clint tried to take Myers under his wing, even took him to meet Colson once, which is a high honor for the archer. Colson is happy, married, and retired. Clint likes to protect Colson and May’s happy ending, because ultimately, he wants one. Long story short, Myers betrays Clint, Bobbi and Hill on a mission. The bad guys offered him a job for more money. Maria said Myers didn’t even think about it. Boomerang really fucked up when Bobbi, Clint’s on and off again wife-don’t ask, got hurt in the process. 

Clint has been putting holes in the guy’s ass ever since. He can never catch him though. Steve and Clint thought they had him one time when Steve broke his leg to keep him from bolting, and because, you know, he threw the playoffs, but he rolled and dragged himself into a sewer and just disappeared. Now, they knew how.

The team caught a break, N.A.T.A.L.I.E connected Myers and one of his buddies, Sammie Chung to a home invasion 6 months ago. The homeowner was some rich programmer who was currently suffering from amnesia. Jarvis noticed that the victim's credit card had been used frequently at the Treize Bakery in Paris. It was also used to rent a brand new flat not 5 minutes away from said bakery. Which is funny because the programmer was still staying at an assisted living community.

“This is where this motherfucker is living?” Clint said, looking around the Parisian apartment. It was nice-super nice. It was a modernized historic apartment with an amazing view. There were floor to ceiling windows, a coffered ceiling, and hand carved woodwork. You can’t expect anything less living in this neighborhood. The 6th Arrondissement is what folks fantasized about when thinking of Paris, not the shithole it actually was. Myers had an interior decorator cause it was way too classy up in here for Mr. Spray Tan.

“You own your building. It’s pre-war,” Sam tried. The walking train wreck that was Clint Barton turned out to be pretty savvy when it came to money and real estate. He used his earnings to buy a decrepit building in an up and coming neighborhood. It needed some work, but it had good bones. In five years he was going to be making a killing.

“It looks like it too,” Clint said, sulking.

“Not when we’re done with it,” Barnes said from over by the window. Sam knew he was there, but somehow in the afternoon sun, Barnes was still cloaked in shadow.

“Done with it?” Sam asked, ready for Myers to come home so Clint can beat his ass, and for Barnes to shoot him if he tried to run again. Nick wasn’t slick. Sam was there to be a babysitter. Rogers had the job last time and blew it.

“Barnes is helping me renovate,” Clint said, ripping books off the shelf. He picked up a nice vase inspecting it, and then dropped it on the refurbished hardwood floors. “Oops,” he giggled. When he was done there, he went and started stabbing pillows with his pocket knife. It was utterly unnecessary since they already had enough on Myers to hand him over to their contact in the FBI. Sam let him have his fun, though. Bobbi was his homegirl.

“I thought your only skill was death and destruction,” Sam said to Barnes.

“Turns out I can also build shit. Makes sense, my louse of a father did construction,” Barnes answered, quietly.

Sam looked over to the man, “You never mention him.” Sam was honored that Barnes trusted him with that information.

“He ain’t worth mentioning,” Barnes responded. The pilot certainly agreed with that. He read the reports. Nick asked him to consult on his hiring and onboarding. “Besides, I have all kinds of skills you know nothing about.” Barnes smirked at him.

“If it’s what I’m imagining, I’m glad I don’t have that knowledge,” Sam lied walking away from the sniper. Clint had disappeared. Sam didn’t smell any smoke, so Barton _should_ be fine.

“It depends on what you're imagining?” Barnes said, smiling back at Sam. He turned back to the window. “Shit! Hawkeye let’s go! Boomerang made Cap,” Barnes yelled, watching Myers sprint down the street. Romanov was on his heels. The rest of their merry band had been staked outside the building. Now they were booking it up the avenue. “I told you a hat and sunglasses don’t do shit if you don’t change your body language, asshole,” Barnes said into the comms, heading for the door.

“Fuck you. Like you’re a chameleon dressed like the fifth member of kiss,” Steve answered.

“Hawkeye?” Sam yelled. The archer came out of Myers’s bedroom zipping up his pants.

“I don’t want to know,” Sam said, rushing out the door. Clint behind him.

“I took a shit on his bed,” Clint declared, proudly.

“Did you wash your hands, man?” Sam asked, trying to keep up with a world class assassin. He gave up when Barnes started that parkour bullshit.

-o0o-

“Why do we always end up in creepy places?” Sam whispered, rushing past a wall of skeletons.

“Cause we catch bad men,” Nick answered.

Myers led them to a high school and down into its basement. Natasha and Steve thought he disappeared again until Barnes told them about the hidden bunker in the catacombs. Now Sam was staring at hundreds of skulls as they traversed the underground tunnels.

“Should we split up, flush him out?” Thor asked.

“Not necessary,” Stark said, tapping on his pad. You said his boomerangs were Hammer Tech right?”

“When he was running with us,” Nick answered.

“Great,” Tony said. “He’s this way.”

“Thermal detector?” Banner asked peering over Tony’s shoulder.

“Yep,” Stark said, taking them right at a fork.

“It could be a tourist with a fever,” Thor suggested.

“Hammer uses carbon nanotubes in all his devices,” Stark relayed.

“Oh,” Thor and Banner said in unison.

“Expends a considerable amount of heat,” Banner said before anyone yelled at them for being elitist eggheads.

“Is that why he wears those stupid gloves?” Clint asked.

“Maybe,” Tony said, turning left. He started walking down a particularly dark tunnel when Romanov knocked him into a stone wall. A boomerang with razors whistled by them, heading directly for Sam’s chest. Sam crossed his arms in front of himself and prepared for impact, but the contraption clanged against metal, giving off sparks. Sam opened his eyes, and Barnes’s metal arm was stretched out in front of him.

“And I’m reckless? You didn’t think to...I don’t know...fly,” Barnes growled before taking off into the dark. 

“Oh no you don’t!” Clint yelled, pulling a sword from his back and also running into the shadows. 

The rest of the crew stood there as what sounded like a really epic battle took place. Thor took out a macaron he didn’t get to finish. Sam joined him biting into a chocolate croissant he was saving from brunch.

“Should we…?” Steve asked, listening to the clanging metal and grunts.

“They're good,” Nick said, checking his text messages.

“Clint’s going to kill him,” Steve tried again. He was pacing, now.

“No, Bucky’s going to kill him,” Romanov said, yawning.

“They know what’s at stake,” Nick returned.

“The thorium,” Stark said, flinching at a particularly loud scream.

“No, I’ll put my foot up their ass,” Nick said. Banner showed Nick an incoming message on his pad. “We don’t have all day, gentleman,” Nick yelled into the void. 

A minute later Barnes walked out of the shadows as Clint dragged a bloodied Fred Meyers into the light. “Tell them,” Clint said.

“Fuck you,” Fred said, spitting out blood. Barnes grabbed his hair, knelt, and put the business end of the assailant’s razorang to his throat.

“Oakley,” Steve said, calmly. Bucky huffed and let him go, but not before leaving a nasty knick. He mushed his face as he stood.

“I got five minutes, Myers. You can tell me what you know and go with me, or I can leave you with Ronin and the Winter Soldier,” Nick said. Boomerang swallowed, looking between the men hovering over him.

“Look, we’re on the same side,” Myers started.

“How’s that?” Banner asked.

“We all want that bitch to pay,” Myers spat.

“I personally just want my stuff back,” Tony chimed.

“Watch your language. There’s a lady present,” Steve said. Romanov was bemused, but didn’t say anything.

“That wasn’t you and your boys out in the jungle? Barnes dropped a body that looked a lot like Billy Kitson,” Nick asked.

“So we were there, but we were trying to stop you from leading her to the treasure. That was our score, man. She stole the dagger, all the files on Stark’s vault. She even hid that Sy woman from us. She seduced me, made me think we were in love,” Fred said, his voice cracking.

“Or she batted her eyelashes at you, and you gave away all your secrets,” Romanov, smiled knowingly. Sam could see that. Ava Starr was a very beautiful and apparently intelligent woman, and Fred Myers was not much in the looks department or any department.

“No, she broke my heart and betrayed me,” Myers denied.

“Betrayed!” Clint exclaimed. He looked up at Fury. “I like her. Do we have to go after her?” 

“Thorium!” Stark reminded him.

“Oh yeah,” Clint said.

“You see what I mean. We were going to trade it all back. Just keep the jewels and gold. She took the treasure and your thorium.” 

“Actually, she just has the ark and the statue,” Tony said.

“The ark?” Fred asked.

“The Ark of the Covenant. The priceless treasure she made off with,” Tony explained. “Wow,” Stark added when he could see Fred had no idea. He shook his head and made his way out of the tunnel. Banner and Thor followed him.

“I-” Fred uttered, confused.

“You don’t even know what the fuck you had, do you?” Nick said. 

-o0o-

With Myers put away they were on their way to their headquarters in Vienna. Riri triangulated all of the robberies and said it was near the center of all of Ava’s activity. They weren’t expecting to find her, but they wanted a good jumping off point if Jarvis or N.A.T.A.L.I.E picked up quantum energy fluctuations.

Sam was alone in the cockpit. Barnes sat in his usual seat by Steve. It wasn’t bothering him. It’s where he normally sat. It’s just he had been sitting with Sam for the last few flights. He had been kind of sticking close to him for weeks now. Sam just got used to that. He thought they were getting to know one another beyond the snarking bullshit, but after the catacombs Barnes backed off. 

When Sam got up to use the restroom and signaled Clint to watch the panel, Barnes and Romanov were arguing with one another. Romanov smiled as he passed. Barnes wouldn’t look at him. That was fine. Sam had plans anyway. Plans that didn’t involve any of these moody motherfuckers. He went back to relieve Clint.

“I can take the wheel, if you want to get some rest,” Clint suggested.

“I’m good man. I’m just ready for this shit to be over,” Sam said, sliding into the pilot’s chair.

“Already?” Natasha purred. “We were just starting to get to know one another,” She said, coming and sitting in Clint’s lap in the co-pilot’s chair.

“I know nothing about you,” Sam laughed.

“You know I like black tea with jam,” Natasha said, playing with Clint’s ear. Clint’s head was layed back against the seat, his eyes closed. It looked like heaven.

“Oh yeah, I’ve peered into the depths of your soul,” Sam joked.

“You don’t want to do that, Sammy. It’s dark there,” Natasha answered.

“I’m not afraid of the dark,” Sam responded.

“I know, but you should be,” Natasha warned. Sam believed her.

“My mama always said I don’t have any common sense,” Sam smiled, missing his family.

“Sounds like a smart lady,” Barnes said from out in the cabin. Sam pursed his lips, and threw on some Coltrane.

-o0o-

By the time they landed. Sam was dead on his feet. Six hours of flying didn’t sound too bad, but people underestimated jet lag, especially when you're the one responsible for getting everyone from place to place safely. Three cities in 24 hours was rough. He was trying to get through protocols, but the words were blurring on the pad. Barnes took it out of his hands. Sam reached for it, but Barnes turned away from him. “Sit down, you're about to keel over,” Barnes said, checking off three items on the list. “Please,” he added when Sam swayed a bit. 

Sam gave in. He was too tired. It seemed like a minute later Barnes was waking him up, but Sam looked at his watch and saw 30 minutes had passed. Barnes locked down the plane and led Sam over to a black matte Range Rover. Clint and Stark were asleep in the back. Romanov was sandwiched between them, Clint’s head on her lap and Tony’s on her shoulder. 

Barnes opened the passenger door for him. “I’m sleepy, not drunk,” Sam yawned.

“Both impair judgement,” Barnes said, going around and climbing into the driver seat. The Austrian Base of Operations was a chalet. It was huge, old, and according to Fury, dirt cheap. It also had animals. Fury pays the elderly couple down the road well to be groundskeepers/innkeepers. Sam was glad he did because when they walked in, the place was spotless, warm, and stocked with food. There was even a cozy fire going.

“We have a problem,” Nick said, drinking tea. “Most of the back wing was rented out to tourists before this job. That cuts our room capacity in half.”

“We have to stay in the same room again,” Sam said, about to crash.

“No, but you do have to double up. I’m giving Stark the honeymoon suite in the back.”

“That leaves your room, Wilson and Barnes’s”

“What happened to my room?” Clint asks.

“You room rents first, and basically pays for the upkeep of this place. It has the best views of the mountain. You can have it back in three days if we’re here that long.”

“I guess me and Clin-” Sam started.

“Me and Clint need our privacy tonight,” Romanov interrupted. “We’ll take Sam’s room.”

“Whoa whoa whoa. What the hell? Why can’t you take Barnes’s room?” Sam argued.

“Because Barnes won’t be able to sleep anywhere else,” Romanov answered like Sam was a child.

Sam sighed. “Okay fine. I can sleep on the couch,” Sam muttered, already trying to migrate over there.

“Is that going to look good for the bed and breakfast side-business?” Romanov asked.

“Where the fuck am I supposed to sleep with the fucking goats?” Sam responded.

“He does get grumpy when he’s sleepy,” Romanov said, leading Clint up the stairs. “And stupid,” She called back down.

“ _Or_ , you could bunk up with Barnes,” Nick said, going back to his tea.

“I thought you didn’t let anyone in your rooms,” Sam said, turning to the sniper. Barnes didn’t say anything.

“I think he’ll make an exception for you,” Nick said, dipping a vanillekipferl into his tea. Barnes scowled at his Boss, but made his way upstairs.

-o0o-

Sam followed Barnes down the hall to his room, “Look man, I can go bunk with Banner or-”

“Steve?” Barnes asked, quietly.

Sam rolled his eyes and stressed, “ _Thor_. You know what, Roy’s room or Maria’s-”

“Both are in the back wing,” Barnes said, pulling out a gigantic key ring.

“I can go sleep in the truck,” Sam whispered.

“If that’s what you want, knock yourself out,” Barnes said, opening his door and flipping on the light.

“I’m trying to respect your privacy,” Sam explained, his eyes fluttered close.

“Did I ask you to do that?” Barnes said. Sam startled awake. “For fuck sake, get in here,” Barnes said, manhandling the pilot into the room. Sam didn’t see much. Once Barnes bodied him over to the bed, Sam conked out. 

-o0o-

Sam moaned into the pillows when the aroma of coffee danced over to him. He yawned, opening his eyes, begrudgingly. He felt so good. He didn’t want to move. He was swaddled in comfort, and had no idea where he was. Morning light danced through a wooden window, feeding the bevy of plants stationed on the tables and bookshelves around the room. He appeared to be in some kind of library jungle with vines and fairy lights.There were hundreds or maybe even thousands of books. With all the books it took you a while to notice the ornate antique chairs begging to be sat in. Barnes sat in one at a small cafe table out on a balcony feeding bacon to a fat gray cat. 

“Did you miss me, Luca?” Barnes cooed. He tickled her chin, petting her fur. His own hair was pulled up in a sloppy bun. It was the most relaxed Sam had ever seen him. He was wearing a silk robe and boxers for god’s sake.

“When you have stopped gawking, Carlotta brought breakfast,” Barnes said, biting into a roll. He fed half his boiled egg to the cat. 

Sam rolled back over in the bed. It was a full size, and there was a Barnes sized indent in the unbelievable soft mattress beside him. _Shit! Did I really sleep through sharing a bed with James Fucking Barnes?_ Maybe, he was stupid. Clearly Barnes wasn’t. Sam looked up at the wall behind him and it was, you guessed it, a giant overstuffed bookcase. Steve’s sketches and family photographs were in frames hiding some of the weathered spines. After splaying out in Barnes’s bed for another half hour, he got up because he was getting way too comfortable. 

He swung out of bed, just realizing he was only in his t-shirt and boxers. “Annie?” Sam said.

“Peacock,” Barnes answered.

“Where are my clothes?” Sam inquired.

“In the wash. You weren’t getting into my sheets with all that grime. I wiped you down a bit. I didn’t impugn your honor, if that’s what you're thinking. You can watch the security feed if you must.”

“There’s cameras in this bitch?” Sam asked, taking out his toiletries from his bag. Barnes blinked up at Sam. “Okay, I fogot who I was talking to, because who the fuck are you right now? Look at this shit,” Sam said, gesturing around the room. “No wonder you don’t let anyone in here, they wouldn’t want to leave,” Sam joked. Barnes smirked at that. The pilot went over to the small en suite bathroom to brush his teeth and wash his face.

When Sam was done freshening up, Barnes asked, “Are you going to eat? If not, I’m giving your egg to Luca.” Luca meowed pitifully at Sam.

Sam came and sat in the other chair on the balcony. “Sorry Luca, you're not getting my food. I don’t care how cute you are.” Luca meowed again.

“I know baby, he’s a grump,” Barnes agreed, kissing the cat.

Sam ignored Barnes and his pet’s side eye. He was too busy chowing down. He shivered. Barnes got up and went into his room. He came back with a plush throw blanket that he placed in Sam’s lap.

“Thank you,” Sam said. Barnes nodded, opening a book while Luca took up residence in his lap. “Man, I mean it. The plane last night, the room, it’s funny, I actually thought you were mad at me.”

“I am mad at you,” Barnes said, turning the page in the novel he was reading.

“Man, this is so nice. I just got a picture of my Mama in my room...wait what?”

“I am mad at you,” Barnes repeated.

“For?” Sam sighed, putting down his coffee cup.

“What the fuck was that in the catacombs?” Barnes asked, turning to him.

“Barnes, I couldn’t have flown anywhere, my dick would have got cut off. I threw up the best defense I had in the time I had.” Sam said.

“You could have moved to the left,” Barnes suggested.

“And the boomerang would have hit my shoulder or Banner or someone else behind me,” Sam pointed out.

“Exactly. We’re all big boys, we don’t need you taking a hit for us, especially when you don’t wear the proper gear.” 

“Your gear weighs a ton. I am airborne a good chunk of our missions. And, you literally took the hit for me.”

“That’s different.”

“How?”

“It’s my job.”

“It’s my job, too,” Sam ground out. 

“No, your job is to fly the plane.”

“Like your chauffeur?”

“That’s not what I meant, and for the fiftieth time… nobody knew Pierce was a Nazi. I didn’t know I worked for Nazi’s until I knew, and then I killed them all.”

“Then what the fuck do you mean?”

“Look, everyone has their jobs. Banner does scary chemical/biology stuff. Odinson builds weird tasers. Nick plans everything. Riri hacks shit. Me, Maria and Steve disappear people. You fly the plane. Your air force. I’m the sniper.”

“You think I’m soft.”

“I don’t think you're soft. Even though there is nothing wrong with being soft. Look at me right now. I think you're good, and I don’t like when bad things happen to good people.”

“Bucky, that’s life. You can’t protect the world from bad stuff. Look what happened with Riley,” Sam said. “Look what happened to you,” Sam added, softly.

“Please don’t call me Bucky,” Barnes whispered. 

“Sorry, I just kept hearing everyone else,” Sam said, trying to hide his hurt.

“I don’t like it when-” Barnes tries.

“You don’t have to explain, man,” Sam said, and he meant it. Yes, his feelings were hurt knowing he wasn’t in Barnes’s inner circle, but that was Barnes’s choice, and Sam would respect it.

“No, please. Steve knew me before. He was there when Becca came up with it. Natasha knew me during. I gave her that name so she could help me to hold on to myself. Riri reminds me of Becca.” Barnes said, his eyes glistening. Barnes hadn’t seen his family in a decade. He hid them away even from himself so his enemies couldn’t use them to hurt him. “I’m not him anymore. I don’t want to be him. Everyone thinks I’m ashamed of the Winter Soldier. That I’m working to get back to Bucky Barnes. I’m not. I’m ashamed of what the Winter Soldier did, I did, how I was used, but he made me stronger. He made me a weapon. One that I can use to protect good people. To finally protect the people I love. To protect you.” 

“I’m a grown man. I don’t need protecting, Barnes.”

“James,” the sniper said. “You can call me James.”

“Can I call you Jimmy?” Sam asked, grinning.

“Honestly, you can call me anything you want,” James said, petting Luca.

Sam smiled at that, but sobered, “You can’t shut me out when something’s bothering you. That’s not how friends work.” 

“I wasn’t shutting you out. I was going to talk to you, eventually. I was trying to calm down, first.”

“Are you calm now?” Sam asked. 

“Yeah, you scared me in the catacombs,” Barnes confessed.

“You scared me falling off that cliff,” Sam pointed out.

“The difference is I was trying to get to safety,” Barnes said, looking over to Sam. He looked down again. “I was in a bad way after I got discharged.”

“That’s not what that was,” Sam defended, realizing what James was thinking. It wasn’t. He had plans. Yeah, he was lonely, but he was trying to protect the people _he_ cared about. Had he been there before? Yeah, the first month after Riley, but he clawed his way back. And he was trying to move forward. His cabin would be a manifestation of his hard work and progress. He was going to get his cabin. 

“I just know that you’ve been down lately,” Barnes admitted.

“And how do you know that? I hardly see you,” Sam asked.

“You bake when you're happy. I come to headquarters and there’s a platter of cookies or a basket of muffins. I’ve had to buy my own dessert for the past three months. The record player hasn’t been touched in weeks. Your shit-day bourbon has been restocked twice in three months.” Barnes explained. 

Sam smiled at the man in front of him. All this time he thought he was alone. That no one cared. He couldn’t help it. He leaned forward and kissed him. Barnes jumped back surprised.

“Sorry,” Sam said, sheepishly. He had let his crush get out of control. The man was afterall Steve’s best- 

Barnes leaned in and kissed Sam, softly. He brought his hands up to his jaw, rubbing those exquisite cheekbones. Barnes kissed him thoroughly, his lips fitting perfectly between the pilot’s. He licked into his mouth trying to savor the taste of him. Sam moaned. Barnes stood, hoisting Sam up. The pilot wrapped his legs around the sniper. Barnes walked them into his bedroom, over to his bed, where he lowered Sam and grinded against him. Sam hissed, sliding his hands over his strong back, down into Barnes’s boxers to grab his ass. Sam needed him closer. He needed Barnes inside of him. There was a knock at the door.

“Buck? You awake?” Steve called.

“Barely,” Barnes called back, untangling himself from Sam. Sam sat up pissed. Bucky rolled over to the side of the bed.

“Sorry. Have you seen Sam? He left his tablet downstairs, and his Mom has tried to facetime him three times. Ms. Darlene doesn’t play around,” Steve said.

“I haven’t seen him,” Barnes said. Sam didn’t know how he felt about that.

“Maybe, he went for a run. Carlotta is making breakfast.” Steve called. The joke was on Steve and everyone at the chalet. Barnes already had breakfast. How long had Barnes been getting room service, while they had to eat buffet style and cursed at in German when they didn’t eat all of their food? Sam never got the good pieces of ham, and that roll he just ate was still warm.

“Okay,” Barnes said. 

When Steve moved away from the door. Sam spoke, “So you haven’t seen me?”

“Did you want me to say I saw you? To your ex-boyfriend who barely has gotten over you. That you still care about...even if it’s platonic.”

“To your best friend,” Sam accused. 

“That doesn’t matter,” Bucky dismissed, rolling back over and kissing Sam’s cheek.

“Why doesn’t _that_ matter?” Sam purred when Barnes bit his ear.

“Because the bastard stole you away. I called dibs,” Barnes said, looking him in the eye.

“Are you serious?” Sam asked.

“Yes. I don’t blame him. I would have done the same thing. I’m going to do the same thing.” Barnes said, his hand rubbing Sam’s toned stomach. “I gave him his chance. He blew it,” the sniper added, licking his palm and wrapping his hand around Sam’s dick. Barnes placed sweet kisses all over Sam’s face, while he worked his cock. Sam bucked up into Barnes's hand. “That’s my pretty peacock,” Barnes whispered in his ear.


	7. Chapter 7

When Sam came back from his actual run, most of the crew was mobilizing downstairs. “You’ve got 10 minutes, Wilson. We need to be in the air in thirty,” Fury commanded.

“Okay,” Sam said, making for the stairs. When he got to Barnes’s room he heard heated voices. He walked into the room, and Steve was looming over the smaller Barnes. Barnes didn’t look too worried.

“Hey, what’s up?” Sam asked. Steve pushed past Sam without looking at him.

“Oh,” Sam said, looking at Barnes. “I don’t want to come between you two.”

“You won’t. He just has to get used to it,” Barnes said, packing his bag. He was back in his all black gear. His hair hung in waves.

“Barnes, that’s a little...” Sam responded.

“Harsh. I swallowed it for three years. He can take it. Nick says we got ten- no- eight minutes.”

“Yeah,” Sam said, heading for the shower. What was he thinking? He wasn’t thinking, at least not with his head. He didn’t want to hurt Steve. They had finally gotten back on track. He didn’t want to hurt Barnes either. He was very interested in seeing where this was headed. Sam decided to focus on one thing at a time. They had Ava Starr in their sights. It was time to do what they got paid for.

-o0o-

Riri reported that Wilson Fisk had flown to Copenhagen last night. This morning there was an unusual amount of quantum energy at the Hotel D'Angleterre where the kingpin was staying. Thorium in Fisk’s hands would be disastrous, and he would sell the ark to the highest bidder and they would never see the important artifact again. Their job had just got infinitely more complicated. It was okay though, complicated was there SOP.

Sam didn’t know what was in the crates. Banner had on head to toe PPE and took extra care securing them in the jet. Stark attached six discs to the wall and a force field formed around the boxes. 

Thor was playing with a new gadget. Sam also noticed the giant ax strapped to his back. When Barnes walked aboard the nuclear physicist handed him three cartridges. Sam swallowed when he got a look at the infamous Lulu, Barnes’s automatic weapon. She was being fed whatever nasty shit Odinson had come up with. Steve was doing capoeira, which meant he was pissed. Ava may have been a thief and possibly a terrorist sympathizer, but she didn’t deserve the unbridled rage of Cap. No one did. Clint’s black box sat at his feet. The last time Sam saw that box, the archer dropped 50 bodies with 12 bolts. 

Natasha had on some extra hardware. The glocks were a mainstay, but now she had on some kind of cuffs. She was messing with small round discs that would sizzle while she worked. Nick was wearing his leather duster. That thing hid so many weapons TSA wouldn’t be able to find them all. Even Stark had on some kind of glove. It had a glowing disc in the center of it. His team was locked and loaded. So was he. His wings were on his back, Rhonda by his side, and Siggy Marley and the twins were hanging out behind his back.

-o0o-

Sam watched in the shadows as Odinson, Stark, and Banner snuck around the warehouse placing tiny conductors. A goon’s skull would split open courtesy of Eloise, and the scientists would move in and do their thing. Romanov and Barton were actually in the building. Sam could hear Ava and Fisk’s conversation loud and clear. 

“You’re an idiot and arrogant. I told you not to charter a flight. They are on my ass,” Ava spat at the mobster.

“I’m not afraid of Nick Fury and his group of rejects,” Fisk said, smiling.

“You should be. Where’s the money?” Starr said, pacing.

“You know, I heard rumors that Tony Stark’s vault was knocked over,” Fisk said.

“What don’t you understand? We don’t have time for this,” Ave beseeched.

“Sell me the thorium, and I’ll quadruple the ask. You need money to fund your research, right?”

“Unfortunately for you, I also need the thorium. And to get the hell out of here,” Ava said, looking up. She almost caught sight of the widow waiting in her web.

“What are you so afraid of?” Fisk asked.

“What am I so afraid of? The winter soldier makes mincemeat of men like you. Ronin is deadly and accurate, and there’s no telling what Banner and Odinson can come up with, plus they are working with Tony Stark. Add to that a world class martial artist, the world’s greatest spies, and the fighter pilot that took out the Taliban home base, and you have my nightmare for the last three weeks. Not to mention two relentless AI’s that probably already have our location.”

“Why do you need the thorium? You don’t take me as the terrorist type.”

“Why, because I’m a woman? You're not getting the thorium. I need it to bring my parent’s back. Money now or I walk.” 

“Oh Ava. We’ve worked so well together up to this point,” Fisk said, lighting a cigar. “Kill her.”

Ava sighed, disappearing before Fisk’s eyes. She reappeared by his flat of money.

“Now,” Romanov said into the comms.

-o0o-

Sam glided around and between the warehouse rafters. He had run out bullets minutes ago, but now he was picking bad guys up and dropping them on their friends. Lulu sang through the dark. Her electric bullets zapping fools until they blacked out or died. Steve was just knocking people out. Him and Fisk had been wrestling for a good five minutes now, but no one went to help the UFC Champion. He was having too much fun. Natasha was hopping and flipping and spinning trying to get hold of the ghost. Stark built some kind of force field to keep her confined in the warehouse. He kept trying to hit her with that blue shit that was bursting out of his glove.

Banner hung back with jars of green goo in his hands. When someone went near him, he threw a jar at them, and then they melted into a puddle. He was actually ankle deep in human sludge over in his corner. Sam needed some of those galoshes he had on. Arrows whistled from on high sometimes finding their target after Barton had turned away. Nick was just straight up capping folks. Someone got the drop on him. Sam rushed over to them, pulling Rhonda from his hip, but Nick stabbed his attacker in the eye before Sam could get a shot off. Thor had found a way to electrify an ax. He was beheading folks and frying them at the same time.

When Steve picked Fisk up and threw his husky ass into the side of his SUV, the Kingpin did not get back up. The minions that were still alive surrendered. Not Ava though, She was still alluding Widow and Maker. Barnes was trying to light her up now too. Banner put down his jars. And pulled a black case from one of the crates.

“Falcon, I need a lift,” Banner said into the comms. Sam swooped down grabbing onto the man. “I need to get to Hawkeye,” Sam headed for the catwalk the archer was stationed on. When they landed Banner pulled out a bolt with a bulb of green gas swirling inside it. “Hawkeye, I need you to hit Ava with this. Do you have her timed?”

“Every 12 seconds,” Barnes’s voice came over the comms.

“I need you too, Annie. Can you hit her with the electrostatic bullets when the bolt hits?”

“I can try,” Barnes said, picking Lulu back up. 

“Stark is the force field reinforced?” Banner asked. Stark was still trying to target the ghost. Natasha was flipping through the air as they spoke.

“Me and Cap just placed the last receiver,” Nik said over the comms. 

“Stark clear out, Romanov, keep her busy.”

“Falcon, you're going to need to pull Romanov out of there.”

“Is that safe?” Steve and Barnes asked.

Sam huffed, “I’m the best pilot on the planet.”

“Great. On my count,” Banner said, waiting for the spectre to reappear. “Now.”

Sam dove towards the redhead spinning like a top. She pushed off a barrel flipping backwards through the air to meet him. An explosion of green gas and blue light rushed towards them. Sam caught Romanov under her arms darting to the ceiling. When they both look down. Ava was laying on the ground, her white suit in tatters. Sam exhaled. “My hero,” Romanov cooed.

“Mine too.” Clint chimed.

“And I call that the Banner Smash!” Bruce said, smiling down at his handy work.

“Bro, you need to workshop that,” Stark said, checking the loot left behind for his thorium. He found the case he was looking for and unlocked it. He smiled, picking up the capsule holding the black cube. “How about the green smash,” Tony suggested.

“That sounds like a really good smoothie,” Clint interjected. “Wait is that what all this was for? That itty bitty tube.”

“Under the right conditions this itty bitty tube could blow a whole the size of Africa in the earth,” Stark informed. Sirens rang out in the distance.

“What’s going to happen to the Ark?” Steve asked.

“That ain’t our concern,” Nick said, signaling Thor to secure Ava. Nick looked back at Steve who was pouting.

“Riri set up an all expense paid European conference and tour for a few select museum heads, historians, national archives directors, and government officials. The tour bus should be here in fifteen minutes.”

“So, we should go,” Sam said.

“We should go,” Nick agreed. “Stark is all your stuff accounted for.”

“It is,” Stark said, happy.

“Good, let’s scatter,” Nick said.

-o0o-

Sam was laughing at Clint who was trying to pile all the cream puffs available on his plate. The artsy crowd was not happy with their shenanigans. Luckily, Romanov came over and helped Sam wrangle the archer. He glanced at the door again, and Steve walked in with a good looking brother on his arms.

“Looks like Steve has a type,” Romanov remarked.

“Crazy hot black dudes,” Clint said, biting into a crostini.

“Pretty much,” Natasha said. “Hey Sammy, you're looking pretty spiffy yourself tonight.” He hoped so, this suit cost three thousand dollars, but it was worth it when he saw the navy blue suit with black velvet lapels on him. The tailor insisted he get it.

“You don’t look half bad either,” He returned. She looked like a trillion dollars. She was lucky Clint wasn’t the jealous type because half the party-goers would have bolts in their heads.

Stark was naturally invited to the opening of the Hidden Treasure of Lima exhibit at the Peruvian Historical Archives. He in turn got invites for all of them. The man himself was surrounded by patrons all listening to his harrowing tale of his exploits on Coco Island. Colonel Rhodes stood beside him looking like he was longing for something stronger than the champagne he was drinking.

“Hey, Wilson,” Banner said. Banner always managed to look like a rumpled college professor, but it worked. It was the wavy black hair.

“Banner, What’s up?” He responded. He looked past the scientist to Maria Hill who was actually in a gown-a sparkly one. “Hill, what the hell? What does Banner have on you?”

“I resent that,” Banner chimed.

“A smart man asked me on a date to a fancy party. It’s nice to be seen as an attractive woman, instead of one of the guys sometimes.”

“Fair enough,” Sam conceded. “Well, you look beautiful and I’m happy to see you,” the pilot added, hugging the woman.

“Hey! Back off cheekbones. I worked hard to get this date,” Banner joked. Hill slapped him on the shoulder.

“Friends!” Thor exclaimed. An older woman draped in pearls turned and sneered at the loud man. “I would like you to meet my date, Hilda Brune.” Thor sure could pull some baddies. His ex Dr. Jane Foster looked like a movie star, and this sister was fine as May wine. Sam wasn’t going to knock his hustle. Thor was a good looking guy. He was also loud, very loud.

“Nice to meet you,” Sam smiled at the pretty woman and glanced at the door again.

“Hey, everybody,” Steve said, finally making his way over to the group. “This is T’Challa Prince, CEO of Wakanda Labs.” Everyone said there hellos. Sam smiled, but moved away from the group. Steve hadn’t spoken to him since Vienna. He didn’t want any static tonight.

“Wilson,” Nick said from behind him. Sam hadn’t seen Nick come in. “This is my date-”

“I’m Amanda Waller,” The no-nonsense woman said, holding out her hand to shake.

“Nice to meet you Ms. Waller. I’m Sam Wilson,” Sam smiled.

“You’re right,” She said, sizing Sam up.

“I’m glad you agree,” Fury said, handing her a glass of champagne. _Nope_ , Sam thought. Sam ignored that exchange in favor of his sanity.

“Excuse me,” The pilot said, walking away from his group of friends. He went out of some double doors in the back and found himself in a garden. Moonlight streamed down on a path lined with topiaries.

Sam didn’t know what he was thinking. Barnes told him it wasn’t his thing. He probably wasn’t coming. Sam still went out and spent all this money to look nice for the man. Apparently, he was almost finished at Clint’s and wanted to keep working. They talked everyday, texted constantly. There was even some sexting and naughty facetime. They hooked up when they were in the same city, but that wasn’t much since Sam went and visited his mom, and Barnes was still taking every job he could get to keep from going stir crazy, despite being tired of the killing. Barnes said he was trying to figure out what to do with his life, out of habit he did what he did best.

Sam just couldn’t get this shit right. Steve would have married him by now if Sam wanted, but the pilot wanted to be friends. Barnes drove him crazy, but he had his issues, which was understandable, and he was a loner. 

What’s worse is Sam hadn’t found a cabin he liked yet. He thought he would be renovating himself by now. He put in a bid on one, but someone else outbid him. He wouldn’t lowball anymore, especially since he had the money now. He was working at the VA doing online sessions, but even that didn’t fill up his long quiet days in that house.

“Sam,” Steve said. Sam turned to his ex who had lost his boyfriend somewhere.

“Hey, Steve,” Sam greeted, nervously. He had no idea how this was going to go.

“Look, I just came out here to say, don’t give up on him,” Steve suggested.

“What?” Sam asked, taken aback. 

“He loves you. He has for a long time,” Steve admitted.

Sam sighed not sure what to say. How was this going to work if Barnes stayed in Brooklyn and on elite status, and Sam was wherever his dream cabin was. “I thought you were mad at us,” Sam said.

“I was, but I know what I did, to both of you. I wanted you for myself without thinking about what other folks wanted or needed. Plus, I miss you guys, and T’Challa’s pretty great.”

“He aight,” Sam joked. Steve laughed.

“I hope you're not out here trying to steal my boyfriend, because that’s not going to go well,” Barnes said. His long hair was slicked back. He had on a navy and black brocade suit that was doing lots of things to Sam’s libido. Sam drank him in happily. They were even matching!

“I have my own boyfriend, Pal.” Steve said, turning to his best friend. 

“Well, maybe you should be wherever he is, Skip.”

Steve laughed at that, and then sobered, “I missed you, Buck.”

“I missed you too, Steve. Be a friend and scram,” Barnes said. Steve nodded, but not before hugging his lifelong friend. When he was done, he clapped Sam on the back, and left the two lovers alone in the moonlight.

“I didn’t think you were coming,” Sam said, walking over to his boyfriend, sliding his arms around his neck.

“Is that why you look like that,” Barnes said, looking Sam up and down. Sam blushed, and pulled him in for a kiss.

“I wanted to look good for my baby. Just in case,” Sam purred.

“Mission accomplished.”

-o0o-

Sam doesn’t really understand how he ended up on the bathroom counter bent in half getting fucked by the Winter Soldier, but he wasn’t going to question it. Barnes sometimes did this. He would come off a job and decide Sam needed to be stuffed every way imaginable. He was a demanding asshole with his gear on. He was sweet and liked to be fucked slowly when he had down time.

Barnes was strong. He slammed into Sam at a relentless pace all while holding the pilot up so he wouldn’t get hurt...too badly. Barnes told him once, he liked it when Sam couldn’t walk straight the next day. With Barnes’s balls slapping his ass, and his dick scraping his prostate, Sam came-hard, marking his own stomach and chest. 

“You look so pretty like that peacock, dripping in your come,” The sniper growled into his ear. I’m going to fill you up, baby. Would you like that?” Sam nodded, holding on for dear life. “I know you would.” 

Barnes came, biting into Sam’s shoulder. Sam held on while his boyfriend pumped wildly until he collapsed on top of him. When Barnes was breathing normally again, Sam said, “Welcome home, baby. How was your trip?”

“It was okay,” Barnes said, slowly pulling out Sam and helping him off the counter. “I missed you.” Barnes said, kissing him.

“I can tell,” Sam joked, walking into the bedroom. Barnes smacked him on the ass.

“Ow!” Sam said, rubbing his already sore bottom. “I hate you.” Barnes chuckled, taking off his clothes for round two. 

-o0o-

“Babe, where are we going?” Sam said, looking for any sign of civilization.

“You’ll see,” Barnes said, throwing the Mercedes Wagon in four wheel drive and crawling up the mountain road hidden by trees. It was dusk, and it seemed like the road got steeper and steeper. Finally, way after dark, the headlights revealed a structure. It was a small cabin. It was well maintained. There were even flowers out front. Barnes grabbed their bags and climbed out of the truck. Sam got out of the car, and followed him onto the porch. Barnes unlocked the door and flipped on the lights inside. 

“Whose cabin is this?” Sam said looking around.

“Mine. I come up here when I get tired of the city, and/or people in general.”

“It’s nice Babe, real cozy but…” Sam hoped his boyfriend wasn’t suggesting Sam live here. He loved James. He did, but he didn’t want to end up where he started in five years time. He wanted a home for himself. Turns out he needn't worry.

“The O’Connors down at the lake are looking to sell. Their place is four times the size of this one and right on the lake. It’s older, but cared for. I had hoped we would get here before dark, so I can show you, but someone wanted to finish watching _The Goonies_ even though they own it. So, I’ll take you to see it tomorrow,” Barnes said, bending down to start building a fire.

Sam walked around Barnes’s space. It was just as charming as his room in the chalet. Actually all of his spaces were warm and inviting and looked to be out of a design magazine. “How much are they asking for it?” Sam asked, looking at more of Steve’s sketches in handcrafted frames. Sam looked over to his boyfriend in amazement when he spotted the shelf full of colorful hand made pottery. A lot of it was pretty, some of it weird. Sam bet that if James tried to sell it, he could make some good money.

“Four hundred thousand dollars, they have a few offers already, but if you want it, it’s yours. I did a couple of favors for them a few years back.”

Later that night as Sam stretched him open in front of the fire. “I love you,” Barnes told him. 

“I love you too,” Sam whispered as he kissed and rolled into him softly. They clung to one another long after the embers had died down. They whispered secrets in the moonlight and giggled amongst the stars. 

-o0o-

The instant Sam saw the cabin, he knew he wanted it. It was exactly what he was looking for. It had a huge porch, it was steps away from the lake, and there was enough room for his Mama, his sister’s family, and Steve’s new family. Steve made Sam an Uncle for the third time, technically it was the fourth time since He and T’Challa adopted twins. The cabin had one more added benefit. It was near his bae, but not up under him. Sam worried about that sometimes.

He didn’t have to. Barnes worked to fix up the cabin even when Sam was on a job. Sam took the rare job when he was bored and about to pull his hair out. The sniper planted a garden, so Sam could have fresh herbs when he cooked. And Sam noticed Barnes was beginning to slow down himself. They spent more and more time together until they realized they had been basically living together for a year.

“I don’t want to go,” Barnes said wrapped in Sam’s arms. His hair was in two braids that Sam had been playing with for the last hour.

“So don’t go,” Sam responded. A lot of people were vying to get on Elite status. Carol replaced Sam before he cleaned out his locker and rooms.

“You know I don’t back out of jobs.”

“Well, I don’t want you to go if your head isn’t in the game,” Sam admitted.

“You can help me get my head in the game,” Barnes responded.

“You want me to fuck you, baby?” Sam said, capturing his lips. 

“I want to ride you.”

“You need my help getting ready?”

“No, I want you to watch.” 

So, Sam did. He watched with rapt attention as Barnes worked himself open to take Sam’s cock. With that pretty pink asswhole puckering at him, Sam couldn’t help but steal a taste. Barnes was scandalized, until he sat on Sam’s dick his mouth slack. Sam waited patiently for his pretty cowgirl to start riding. Sam loved when he filled him. Annie O road Sam until he was worn out, the pilot’s come leaking out of him.

-o0o-

Barnes went on a few more jobs, but one day he walked into the cabin with a box of books and a carrier holding Anastasia, his Brooklyn cat. Sam eyed the carrier in alarm and looked up at the Winter Soldier as he freed the black hellion. “You are not bringing 12 cats to this cabin,” Sam said. The sniper could walk menacingly over to him all he wanted. “Do you hear me?” Sam said, being cornered against the wall. Barnes unzipped his pants. He kissed Sam, licking into his mouth. When Sam was moaning. The sniper pulled back, pushing down on Wilson’s shoulders. “You’re not going to shut me up,” Sam said, sinking to his knees. Barnes pulled out his dick, stuffing it into the pilot’s mouth. Sam mumbled around Barnes’s erect cock until the sniper grabbed his head and started fucking into it. Sam glared up at him, but relaxed his throat and let Winter use him. Barnes came and watched Sam swallow.

“My pretty peacock,” Barnes said, running his thumb across Sam’s lips. Barnes bent over and kissed the top of Sam’s head, and took off for the bedroom.

“Barnes, I’m not feeding twelve cats,” Sam said, getting back to his feet. He mumbles some obscenities and adjusted his pants, and went to find his lover. He wondered if the winter soldier would go away if the sniper retired. He didn’t.

Barnes found homes for his other pets and plants. He donated half of his books to charities, but stored the rest in his man cave up the mountain. He allowed locals to go in and borrow and add to the collection. They were very happy in their cabin. In the end it was four cats including Luca-Sam’s favorite, two siberian huskies, a giant tortoise that lived in the woods that Barnes liked to feed, and, oh yeah, a fucking peacock.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you enjoyed it!

**Author's Note:**

> Hope you enjoyed it!


End file.
